Lee Jae-myung "Pursuing Impeachment of Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the 11th that he will officially push for the impeachment of Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop.

In a statement released that day, Lee said, "The impeachment of the Minister of National Defense is the mandate of the people."

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Earlier, the Democratic Party decided to adopt a special prosecutor system as a party policy regarding allegations of investigation interference related to the death in the line of duty of Marine Sergeant Chae Mo during flood recovery operations. At the members' meeting on the 8th, the party adopted the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Prosecutor for the Investigation into the Obstruction and Concealment of the Death of a Marine in the Line of Duty" as party policy, and the related special prosecutor bill was introduced by Representative Park Ju-min on the 7th.

In his statement, Lee criticized, "President Yoon Seok-yeol refused the people's demand to dismiss the minister," adding, "Not only did he oppress the Marine investigation team leader who tried to uncover the truth, but he also defied the people's mandate."

He continued, "During last week's interpellation session, it was revealed in detail that Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop violated the law and unjustly interfered in the investigation," and pointed out, "Yet the president's failure to dismiss a minister who shamelessly committed illegal acts proves that the investigation interference was ordered by the president himself."

Addressing the People Power Party, he said, "They are once again leading the public in fearmongering by calling the minister's impeachment a 'security vacuum,'" and questioned, "I hope the ruling party will act responsibly toward the people. Is it the ruling party's duty to protect a minister who cannot even safeguard the lives of soldiers and conceals the truth?"

Lee emphasized, "The impeachment of the Minister of National Defense will not be the end but the starting point of fact-finding," and added, "The Democratic Party will reveal the truth of this incident in detail through a special prosecutor following the impeachment." He further stated, "There can be no sanctuary before the truth. We will ensure thorough fact-finding as the people wish so that such a tragedy never happens again."

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