"Member of National Assembly, Immediate Resignation Upon Submission of Resignation Letter"… Park Su-young Proposes Amendment to National Assembly Act

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] As the political circle is struggling over the resignation issue of Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, a bill allowing lawmakers to resign immediately upon submitting their resignation letter has been proposed.

On the 2nd, Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, proposed an amendment to the National Assembly Act that allows a lawmaker to resign on the same day by submitting a resignation letter signed and sealed by themselves to the Speaker.

The current National Assembly Act stipulates that when a lawmaker intends to resign, the resignation must be put to a vote during a session, and during recess, the Speaker must approve it.

The proposal of this bill was largely influenced by the political controversy surrounding Yoon’s resignation. Recently, Yoon submitted a resignation letter taking responsibility for the full investigation of lawmakers’ real estate holdings and began the practical resignation process by clearing out her office, but she still retains her status as a lawmaker.

Park said, "So far, resignation from the National Assembly has acted as a means to enforce political positions," and added, "Even when resignation was announced, actual resignation rarely occurred. For example, in 2004, the Uri Party resolved to collectively resign after the presidential impeachment motion passed, but withdrew the decision after ten days." He continued, "The ruling party’s claim that it is a show is because politics has failed to demonstrate responsibility under the existing National Assembly Act provisions."

Earlier, Park expressed his intention to push for the amendment to the National Assembly Act through social media (SNS), stating, "Article 15 of the Constitution stipulates that ‘all citizens shall have the freedom to choose their occupation,’" and pointed out, "Preventing a lawmaker from quitting to pursue other work is an unfounded restriction on the freedom of occupational choice." He argued that while elected officials such as the president or mayor can resign freely, requiring a plenary vote or the Speaker’s approval for lawmakers is unfair. Furthermore, Park claimed that this National Assembly Act provision seems to have originated from Japan, which adopts a cabinet responsibility system, and is not suitable for our circumstances either.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.