'Im Dong-gwan Impeachment Bill' Scheduled for Today's Plenary Session... Tensions Between Ruling and Opposition Parties

People Power Party Considers Occupying Speaker's Office and Overnight Sit-in
Democratic Party Holds 2+2 Budget Negotiation Meeting
Indicates Possible Resolution by Next Month 2

On the afternoon of the 30th, the National Assembly plenary session is scheduled to present an impeachment motion against Lee Dong-gwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, among others. The People Power Party is preparing an overnight sit-in protest to block the passage of the impeachment motion, while the Democratic Party of Korea plans to hold plenary sessions for two days until the 1st of next month and push for a forced passage, intensifying the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. The Democratic Party suggested the possibility of passing the budget bill by the legal deadline (December 2) and newly proposed the formation of a '2+2 consultative body.'

Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "Today's and tomorrow's plenary sessions are schedules agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties," adding, "There is no plenary session originally planned based on a budget agreement." This was a rebuttal to the People Power Party's claim that the plenary session was a preliminary schedule for budget processing.

He also strongly warned against the possibility of the ruling party occupying the Speaker's office to block the plenary session, saying, "This is not a subject for political compromise but a subject for criminal punishment." Hong added, "In the 20th National Assembly in 2020, some senior members of the People Power Party were criminally punished for such actions. Please take note."

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, and Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader, are attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 30th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

After reporting the impeachment motion on the same day, the Democratic Party plans to complete the vote on the impeachment motion at the plenary session on the 1st of next month, within 72 hours after 24 hours, according to the National Assembly Act.

In response, the People Power Party held a senior members' joint meeting chaired by floor leader Yoon Jae-ok to discuss strategies for responding to the plenary session. After the joint meeting, attended by 28 of the 31 senior members with three or more terms, Yoon said, "The majority of senior members agreed that such an unprecedented outrage in constitutional history cannot be overlooked and that we must stop this parliamentary outrage together with the people." Although specific response methods will be decided at a party members' meeting, it is known that options such as occupying the Speaker's office or overnight sit-in protests in the Rotunda Hall are being discussed.

On the same day, the People Power Party leadership unanimously criticized the Democratic Party for forcibly holding the plenary session to present the impeachment motion. Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, said at the Supreme Council meeting, "The Democratic Party is trying to turn the plenary session, originally intended for budget agreement processing, into a plenary session for partisan impeachment processing," adding, "According to the principle of non bis in idem, the same agenda cannot be proposed within the same session, yet they unilaterally and illegally withdrew the impeachment motion reported to the public and shamelessly reintroduced it. This is truly astonishing."

Floor leader Yoon said, "This plenary session schedule was a preliminary schedule set to process the budget, and it has been customary to postpone it until the budget processing becomes possible, but the Democratic Party threw away such bipartisan agreements and colluded with the Speaker to hold a plenary session for impeachment," criticizing it as "an unprecedented outrage in the 75-year history of the Speaker's office."

Earlier, the People Power Party had stalled the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 22nd and the previous day in protest against the impeachment motion processing. However, the plenary session on this day included 21 agenda items that could be submitted, including the impeachment motion against Chairman Lee, and also included the appointment consent bill for Lee Jong-seok, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, which the ruling party had urged to be processed swiftly due to concerns about a judicial vacuum. The National Assembly also specified the plenary session schedule on the 30th in the agenda, making the plenary session a foregone conclusion.

Meanwhile, floor leader Hong said regarding budget negotiations, "I will do my best to reach an agreement today," but added, "If the Budget and Accounts Committee ends today, thereafter, a 2+2 consultative body composed of the ruling and opposition floor leaders and policy chiefs will negotiate the budget to complete it by the legal deadline of next month 2. If the budget is finalized by the 2nd through the 2+2 consultative body, we will hold a plenary session at any time to pass the budget."

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