National Assembly Reports on Lee Sang-min's Dismissal Proposal... 'Will Be Discarded if Not Processed Within 72 Hours'

Report on the Dismissal Recommendation at the Plenary Session on the 8th
Vote Must Be Held Within 72 Hours After 24 Hours

Seongon Wi, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Sujin Lee, a member of the National Assembly, submitted a motion to dismiss Minister Sangmin Lee of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to the National Assembly's Legislative Affairs Office on the 30th of last month. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] A motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min was reported on the 8th. Attention is focused on whether the motion will proceed to be processed in a plenary session held within 72 hours after 24 hours from now.

On the day, the National Assembly held a plenary session and reported the motion to dismiss Minister Lee. Jeong Myeong-ho, the director of the Secretariat, announced as the plenary session opened, "On the 30th of last month, a motion to dismiss Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Interior and Safety, a member of the State Council, was proposed by Representative Park Hong-geun and 168 others."

Earlier, the Democratic Party proposed the motion to dismiss, citing that Minister Lee did not make efforts to prevent the Itaewon disaster and minimize damage, did not actively respond to emergency rescue calls on the day of the disaster, was preoccupied with downplaying the disaster and avoiding responsibility, and although thorough investigation and punishment of those responsible were necessary, investigations were being conducted on frontline police officers and firefighters.

According to Article 112 of the National Assembly Act, once a motion to dismiss is proposed, a secret ballot must be held within 72 hours after 24 hours. If the vote on the motion is not held within this period, the motion is discarded.

Speaker Kim Jin-pyo announced regarding the legislative schedule that plenary sessions would be held on the 8th and 9th, allowing the voting procedure to proceed on the 9th after the motion was reported on the 8th. Accordingly, the motion to dismiss is expected to be voted on the 9th.

However, the plenary session on the 9th, the last day of the regular session, is flexible due to the remaining schedule for handling next year's budget bill.

Meanwhile, the motion to dismiss requires the approval of the majority of the total members to pass but does not have legal binding force. The President must make a judgment based on the political recommendation of the National Assembly. Previously, the National Assembly passed a motion to dismiss Foreign Minister Park Jin, but President Yoon Seok-youl refused to accept the motion.

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