About Two-Hour Meeting Held on the Evening of the 19th
No Final Decision Reached on Acting Prime Minister Choi's Impeachment
The Democratic Party of Korea decided on the 19th to delegate the decision on whether to impeach Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, to the party leadership. The party's floor leadership planned to continue a late-night meeting immediately after the members' general assembly on the same day.
Kang Yoo-jung, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said this to reporters after the members' general assembly held at the National Assembly that night. Kang stated, "There were various discussions on whether to impeach Acting Prime Minister Choi or to respond in other ways besides impeachment," adding, "We will gather all opinions and decide what to do in the ongoing floor leadership meeting."
Earlier, Floor Leader Park Chan-dae had issued a final ultimatum to Acting Prime Minister Choi to appoint Ma Eun-hyuk, a nominee for Constitutional Court justice, by the 19th. Party leader Lee Jae-myung said, "Dereliction of duty is a crime in flagrante delicto. Anyone, including the police, can arrest him immediately," and added, "From this moment on, anyone in the public can arrest Acting Prime Minister Choi as a dereliction of duty offender, so I hope he exercises caution," making a strong statement.
It is known that there were pros and cons regarding the impeachment of Acting Prime Minister Choi during the meeting. The party floor leadership planned to gather after the members' general assembly to continue the late-night meeting. When asked whether the decision on impeachment would be made through the party leadership meeting today, Kang replied, "We have at least gathered consensus to delegate to the leadership, and I think the decision will be made soon."
Regarding the ratio of support and opposition to the impeachment of Acting Prime Minister Choi, Kang said, "There was an opinion that a more popular struggle might better align with people's will at this point," but emphasized, "Nevertheless, Choi's unconstitutional omission of duty for over three weeks is a clear reason for impeachment."
On the delay of the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-youl, Kang explained, "Since it is the Constitutional Court's time, we respect their schedule, and there was discussion that many people's expectations and predictions that the verdict would be announced today might be off."
Regarding concerns that the Constitutional Court's impeachment verdict on President Yoon might be delayed beyond the second trial verdict on party leader Lee's election law violation charges, Kang briefly responded, "There were various comments on changes in the method and intensity of the struggle."
On the possibility of pension reform being processed in the plenary session on the 20th, Kang said, "The unresolved parts remaining might be submitted to the plenary session after passing through the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee as early as tomorrow," adding, "It is not yet at a stage where we can say definitively what will happen tomorrow."
Meanwhile, party leader Lee did not attend the members' general assembly that day and also did not participate in the subsequent emergency late-night leadership meeting.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
