Opposition's Strong Push for Dual Special Prosecutor Law and Donggwan Lee Impeachment... Year-End National Assembly at 'Zero Hour'

Hong Ik-pyo "Impeachment Bill Must Be Passed at the Plenary Session on the 30th"
Appointment Consent for Constitutional Court Chief and Others Failed on the 23rd

With the legal deadline for next year's budget bill approaching on the 2nd of next month, the Democratic Party of Korea is pushing forward the 'Double Special Prosecutor Act (regarding the illegal lobbying allegations of the 5 billion won club in the Daejang-dong development project and the special prosecutor law for First Lady Kim Keon-hee)' and the impeachment motion against Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, causing the year-end National Assembly to rapidly freeze. The Democratic Party plans to hold plenary sessions on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month to process the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee.

The National Assembly had planned to hold a plenary session on the 23rd to process the appointment consent bill for Lee Jong-seok, nominee for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, and other bills, but it was canceled. This was because the People Power Party did not agree on the agenda as the possibility of processing the impeachment motion and the Double Special Prosecutor Act arose. The People Power Party demanded that the Democratic Party promise not to forcibly process the impeachment and Double Special Prosecutor bills in the plenary session, but did not receive a definite answer, and blocked the plenary session by not convening the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the final gate for bills reviewed in each standing committee.

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Hong Ik-pyo, the Democratic Party floor leader, declared at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly that day, "We will definitely process the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee at the plenary session on the 30th." Toward the end of the meeting, he added, "The plenary session on the 30th is a part that the Speaker of the National Assembly has firmly promised, and the processing of the impeachment motion has been discussed for a long time."

For now, the ruling and opposition parties have roughly agreed on this agenda, but uncertainty remains high. Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, People Power Party floor leader Yoon Jae-ok, and Democratic Party floor leader Hong Ik-pyo held a private discussion on the agenda and reached a consensus to hold plenary sessions on the 30th and the 1st of next month. However, they engaged in a dispute over the preconditions for holding the plenary sessions.

The Speaker's office announced immediately after the meeting, "We have agreed to hold plenary sessions on the 30th and the 1st of next month," while the People Power Party protested, saying, "There is no fact of any agreement regarding the plenary sessions on the 30th and the 1st of next month."

Originally, the Democratic Party set the D-Day for processing the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month, when plenary sessions are held two days in a row, based on the National Assembly Act provision that requires processing within 72 hours after 24 hours of reporting the impeachment motion. The People Power Party insists that the plenary session should be held on the condition of agreeing on the budget bill, while the Democratic Party opposes linking the processing of the budget bill and the impeachment motion.

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