Presidential Office Virtually Rejects Proposal to Dismiss Lee Sang-min... "No Comment"

The Presidential Office Likely to Reject if Dismissal Recommendation is Notified to the Ministry of Personnel Innovation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Office has not issued a separate statement regarding the National Assembly's passage of the motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min on the 11th.

However, it is known that President Yoon Seok-yeol does not intend to accept the dismissal motion. Since a bipartisan agreement has scheduled a state investigation into the Itaewon tragedy and the police special investigation headquarters' inquiry has not been completed, making it unfair to hold Minister Lee responsible before the substantive truth is clarified.

A senior official from the Presidential Office responded to Asia Economy on the 11th when asked about the National Assembly's dismissal motion against Minister Lee, saying, "There is no separate position."

However, once the dismissal motion is notified to President Yoon through the Ministry of Personnel Management, it is expected that the President will issue a statement indicating that he "does not accept" it and effectively exercise his 'veto power.'

After the Democratic Party unilaterally passed a dismissal motion against Foreign Minister Park Jin on September 29, holding him responsible for controversies related to President Yoon's overseas trips, the Presidential Office did not issue a statement immediately. However, after the dismissal motion was notified through the Ministry of Personnel Management the following day, Chief Public Relations Officer Kim Eun-hye issued a statement.

The dismissal motion passed by the National Assembly has no legal binding force, so if President Yoon rejects it, it will be nullified. However, since this is the second dismissal motion passed against a Cabinet member following Minister Park, significant political repercussions are expected.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the National Assembly passed the dismissal motion against Minister Lee in the plenary session with 182 votes in favor and 1 invalid vote out of 183 members present.

With the People Power Party collectively leaving the plenary hall just before the vote, the Democratic Party, holding 169 seats, processed the motion unilaterally. A dismissal motion against a Cabinet member requires the support of at least one-third (100 members) of the total members to be proposed and a majority (150 members) to be passed.

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