Joo Ho-young: "6 PM Plenary Session on 'Park Jin Dismissal'... Protest 'Should We Stab Harris with a Knife?'"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the party-government meeting on COVID-19 prevention held at the National Assembly on the 29th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's 'vulgar language controversy,' the motion to dismiss Foreign Minister Park Jin is expected to pass at the plenary session scheduled for 6 p.m. on the 29th. The plenary session was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., but the ruling party requested a delay considering the departure time of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is visiting Korea and meeting with President Yoon on that day.

On the 29th, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters at the National Assembly, "I just received notification from the Speaker's office that the plenary session will be held at 6 p.m."

The three-hour delay from the original 3 p.m. start time was made in consideration of Vice President Harris's schedule. Floor leader Joo said, "Foreign Minister Park Jin is accompanying Vice President Harris during her visit to Korea. In the morning, he attended a meeting with President Yoon, and Vice President Harris is scheduled to visit the DMZ and depart around 6 p.m. It is truly a fierce diplomatic scene, so I protested to Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, asking if it was appropriate to stab someone in the back at such a time."

He added, "Then it seems they postponed the time a bit," and "The Democratic Party initially demanded the plenary session be held at 3 p.m., but perhaps fearing criticism, they later contacted us saying it would be at 6 p.m."

Floor leader Joo criticized, saying that President Yoon and Vice President Harris had an in-depth discussion on the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) during their meeting that day, and "to chain Foreign Minister Park, who is engaged in intense diplomatic activities related to the IRA, with a motion to dismiss is tantamount to stabbing him in the back during critical diplomatic efforts, to put it harshly."

He continued, "The Democratic Party says that President Yoon can simply reject it, but we must think about the entire country," adding, "If the motion to dismiss is submitted but not accepted, not only will the National Assembly's constitutional power to recommend dismissal be nullified and rendered obsolete, but it will also do no good for national interests."

Floor leader Joo said, "Ultimately, this is just the Democratic Party showing off its power and pressuring us by saying that if we don't listen, they will continue to do this," and "Yesterday, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung used the phrase 'pragmatism and national interest,' but I strongly urge them to reconsider whether this series of actions by the Democratic Party truly aligns with pragmatism and national interest."

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