Joo Ho-young: "Democratic Party, Shielding Lee Jae-myung and Rejecting Presidential Election Results, Breaks Agreement on National Audit After Budget Approval"

Minister of the Interior and Safety Sang-min Lee's Dismissal Proposal
Holding Accountability Before National Inquiry Conclusion
"An Intention to Prevent President Yoon Seok-yeol's Success"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, claimed on the 29th that the Democratic Party's decision to adopt a motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min as the party's official stance broke the agreement to conduct a national audit after the budget process.

At the floor strategy meeting that day, Floor Leader Joo said, "(Minister Lee's) motion to dismiss is scheduled for December 1 and 2, which are the legal deadlines for budget approval as stipulated by the Constitution and laws. Saying they will proceed with this means they are essentially declaring they will not meet the legal budget deadline."

He continued, "Even though the political circles should be working together to solve issues, they broke the agreement made just three days ago to conduct a national audit after the budget process, and are holding a national audit before any conclusions have been reached to assign blame. The Democratic Party, which holds 169 seats, is showing off its power, which ultimately amounts to refusing to accept the presidential election results and not wanting to see the People Power Party or President Yoon Seok-yeol succeed, regardless of what happens to South Korea," he criticized.

Floor Leader Joo cited the Sewol ferry incident response as an example, saying, "The Democratic Party took a leading role, conducting as many as nine investigations and spending nearly 220 billion won, but the funds were used for overseas cruise trips, their own soccer club activities, and research on North Korea's New Year's address," adding, "Despite this, maritime accidents did not decrease but rather increased. Whenever a major accident occurs, the government is held responsible, but in a way, the legislative branch holds the ultimate responsibility. Are they trying to repeat that failure again?"

He also said, "President Yoon Seok-yeol stated that after investigations and national audits, those responsible will be strictly held accountable," adding, "Responsibility includes legal, positional, and political accountability. If only resignations are accepted without addressing these responsibilities, the same problems will recur." He added, "Even if it takes time, there must be a proper approach to hold people accountable and to identify what systems are necessary to prevent recurrence."

Earlier, Floor Leader Joo summarized the Democratic Party's recent behavior with four keywords: obstinacy, abuse of power, shielding Lee Jae-myung, and refusal to accept the presidential election results, saying, "When the regime changes according to the will of the people, they should help the new government work, but instead they obstruct at every turn and do not want to see the government succeed or do well."

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