Yeo: "Defense Minister Impeachment, Obstructing State Affairs... The People's Mandate is Impeachment of Lee Jae-myung"

Yoon Jae-ok "There Was a Virtue in Refraining from Political Strife During the President's Overseas Trip"

The People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's push to impeach Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop as "obstructing national governance."

On the afternoon of the 11th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, met with reporters after a party meeting at the National Assembly and said, "The Democratic Party demanded the dismissal of the Defense Minister while the President was on an overseas trip," adding, "In fact, our political circles have long upheld the virtue of refraining from political strife during the President's overseas diplomatic activities."

Earlier that day, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, announced in a statement that he would officially push for the impeachment of Minister Lee, saying, "Not only did he suppress the Marine Corps investigation team leader who tried to reveal the truth, but he also disobeyed the people's orders." He explained the grounds for impeachment by stating, "During last week's interpellation session, it was fully revealed that Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop violated the law and improperly interfered in the investigation." The Democratic Party plans to hold an emergency party meeting on the 12th to proceed with the party's official impeachment motion process.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Floor leader Yoon emphasized that when the Democratic Party previously pushed for the impeachment of Minister Lee Sang-min of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there was a situation where the head of the relevant ministry was vacant for about 100 days. He said, "Due to the impeachment of Minister Lee Sang-min, the minister in charge of safety was vacant for almost 167 days, during which floods and disasters occurred, and there were difficulties in national governance," adding, "The position of Defense Minister is even more specialized than that of the Minister of the Interior and Safety. It is a position that cannot have any vacancy even for a moment."

He then refuted the Democratic Party's claims, saying they do not constitute grounds for ministerial impeachment. Floor leader Yoon said, "The authority to conduct investigations lies not with the military but has been transferred to the police and is just beginning. Claiming a violation of the law and pushing for impeachment without concrete evidence shows an intention to obstruct national governance."

Yoo Sang-beom, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, also issued a statement, pointing out that "the people's order is not 'the impeachment of the Defense Minister' but 'the impeachment of Leader Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party.'"

Chief spokesperson Yoo questioned, "It is absurd to claim 'impeachment' while the police investigation has just started and nothing has been revealed, running on their own circuit. Moreover, does Leader Lee, who is under investigation and trial for serious criminal charges and behaves with such irresponsibility and shamelessness that it is embarrassing to even call him the leader of the main opposition party, have the right to talk about impeachment?"

He also mentioned the potential security threat if the Defense Minister's position becomes vacant. He said, "Who would be happiest if the Defense Minister leading our military disappears? Naturally, it would be North Korea, which continuously threatens and provokes us," adding, "I cannot help but ask whether the Democratic Party, which forgets the reality of being the only divided nation and instead takes the lead in doing things that please our main enemy, is truly a political party of the Republic of Korea."

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