Kang Byung-won Proposes 'Giving Up Parliamentary Privileges' Following 'Renunciation of Nomination Rights'

On the 19th, "Introduction of Disqualification System for National Assembly Members... Excluding Disqualified Members from Arrest Consent Proposals"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kang Byung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who announced his candidacy for party leader in the upcoming August party convention, stated, "We will introduce a system to suspend the qualifications of National Assembly members and exclude those with suspended qualifications from the vote on arrest consent motions."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 19th, Kang held a press conference at the National Assembly in the morning and announced a "political reform blueprint" containing these details.

He said, "We will give up the privileges of National Assembly members that do not align with the common sense of the people," adding, "We will make the shameful term 'bulletproof National Assembly' disappear from the Assembly."

He emphasized that the National Assembly Ethics Special Committee, composed equally of ruling and opposition members, will be reorganized as an organization directly under the Speaker of the National Assembly, with both the chairperson and members appointed from outside to ensure the Ethics Committee can fulfill its original role.

Furthermore, he explained that National Assembly members who receive a suspension of qualifications from the Ethics Committee will be excluded from the vote on arrest consent motions, so that the Assembly can secure ethical awareness and morality that meet the public’s expectations.

Some interpret this as targeting lawmaker Lee Jae-myung. Since the June local elections, there have been claims that Lee ran for the National Assembly election as a "bulletproof candidacy" to avoid judicial risks.

Kang stressed, "The proposal is to exclude members with suspended qualifications from the vote on arrest consent motions," drawing a clear line that it is not aimed at any specific individual.

After the press conference, Kang told reporters, "I think I am the first candidate to announce a political reform blueprint following the party’s blueprint announcement last Tuesday," adding, "I expected many candidates to come forward and announce their innovation lines and visions, but (since then) there has been no one, so I am the second."

Kang also pointed out, "Discussions on unification after the cut-off will be inevitable," but added, "Shouldn't the public first see the visions and values of each of the eight party leader candidates before unification takes place?"

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