Impeachment Vote on Choi Sangmok Begins in National Assembly Plenary Session
Dismissal Finalized Before Ballot Counting, Vote Invalidated
13.8 Trillion Won Supplementary Budget Bill Passes Plenary Session
As the Democratic Party of Korea moved to process the impeachment motion against Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, during the plenary session on the 1st, Choi resigned. Acting President and Prime Minister Han Ducksoo accepted Choi's resignation, resulting in the impeachment motion not proceeding to a vote in the plenary session.
The National Assembly was scheduled to hold a plenary session that day to handle the supplementary budget bill. However, prior to the session, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee convened and placed on the agenda the "report on the investigation into the impeachment case of the Minister of Economy and Finance (Choi Sangmok)." Previously, the Democratic Party had decided to refrain from impeaching Acting President Han, citing "strategic patience," but reversed its stance.
People Power Party lawmakers protest as Speaker Woo Wonshik of the National Assembly additionally submits the impeachment motion against Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, during the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News
Noh Jongmyun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party's parliamentary group, stated, "We expect the impeachment motion against Deputy Prime Minister Choi to be put to a vote today." It appears that the resignation of Acting President and Prime Minister Han Ducksoo played a role in the decision to impeach Choi. Noh explained, "There are more than enough grounds for impeachment against Deputy Prime Minister Choi, but the main consideration was that it would become difficult to impeach him if not now," adding, "It cannot be said that Han's resignation was completely unrelated."
As the Democratic Party requested a change in the parliamentary schedule, which led to the impeachment motion against Choi being placed on the plenary session's agenda, lawmakers from the People Power Party climbed the podium and chanted, "Lee Jaemyung is a criminal," and "Woo Wonshik must resign."
During the voting process, which proceeded despite opposition from the People Power Party, Choi submitted his resignation to Acting President Han. After Han accepted Choi's resignation, Choi's dismissal was finalized.
Speaker Woo stated, "The government has notified us of Deputy Prime Minister Choi's dismissal," and added, "Since there is no longer a subject for impeachment, I will stop the vote." As the vote was rendered invalid, the ballot box was not opened.
With Choi's resignation, Lee Juhho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, will assume the role of Acting President, succeeding Han, who had already expressed his intention to resign.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the National Assembly passed a supplementary budget bill totaling approximately 13.8 trillion won, with 241 in favor, 6 against, and 25 abstentions out of 272 members present. The supplementary budget bill, which passed the plenary session, increased spending by 1.8 trillion won and decreased it by 200 billion won compared to the government proposal, resulting in a net increase of 1.6 trillion won, in accordance with an agreement between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party. An additional 100 billion won was allocated for wildfire damage relief and disaster preparedness, and another 100 billion won for strengthening trade risk response and artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness. In the area of livelihoods, the government decided to inject an additional 400 billion won into the regional gift certificate (local currency) program.
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