Lee Jae-myung: "The ruling party disrupted the plenary session to find a leader for broadcasting control actions"

Democratic Party Holds Party Meeting and Criticizes Ruling Party for Disrupting Plenary Session
Lee: "They Disrupted Plenary to Block Impeachment of Lee Dong-gwan"
Hong Ik-pyo Affirms Plenary on 30th... "Unrelated to Budget Approval"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the People Power Party on the 23rd regarding the cancellation of the scheduled plenary session, saying, "It is truly regrettable and unfortunate that they refused to review the bill and disrupted the plenary session in order to rescue the broadcast control ringleader during difficult times."

At the Democratic Party members' meeting held at the National Assembly that afternoon, Lee said, "(The People Power Party) will find it difficult to avoid criticism for lacking even the minimum sense of responsibility as a force in charge of state affairs." He criticized the ruling party for blocking the plenary session scheduled for that day by not convening the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day, accusing them of intending to prevent the impeachment motion against Broadcasting and Communications Commissioner Lee Dong-gwan.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is giving a greeting speech at the members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 23rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee also urged the lawmakers, "No matter how irresponsible the government and ruling party act, our Democratic Party must fulfill its sovereign responsibility," emphasizing, "We must never tolerate the regime's anachronistic attempt to seize control of the broadcasting system." In particular, he reiterated his determination to push forward the 'dual special prosecutor law' by stating, "We must ensure that the special investigation on the national suspicion issue is carried out promptly."

Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, pointed out, "(The ruling party) chose to disrupt the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to prevent the plenary session scheduled for that day," adding, "It seems new tactics are emerging one after another." He explained, "There was a demand from the ruling party side to process the appointment consent bill for the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court," and said, "(They said) if accepted, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee would operate normally, but even when I agreed, they still refused to convene it."

Hong emphasized, "The Speaker of the National Assembly has repeatedly stated for a long time that the plenary session where the impeachment motion against Commissioner Lee Dong-gwan and others can be processed will definitely be held on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month," adding, "At a meeting yesterday (the 20th) with me and Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, the Speaker spoke more clearly. The claim from the other side (ruling party) that it is linked to the budget bill is completely untrue."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly originally planned to hold a plenary session that day to process the appointment consent bill for Constitutional Court Chief Justice nominee Lee Jong-seok and bills reviewed by each standing committee, but it was canceled. The People Power Party blocked the plenary session by not convening the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the previous day. Following the report of the impeachment motion, the Democratic Party targeted the plenary sessions on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month, when the impeachment motion against Commissioner Lee is to be processed, in accordance with the National Assembly Act stipulating processing within 72 hours after 24 hours of reporting. However, while the ruling party insists that the plenary session should be held on the condition of agreeing on the budget bill, the Democratic Party opposes linking the budget bill and the impeachment motion, making future schedules and budget bill processing expected to face difficulties.

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