[On Site] 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Law' Rejected by 2 Votes... Fierce Opposition from Opposition Party Aides

"Traitors" "Is this a country?" "Impeach Yoon Seok-yeol" Shouted
Opposition aides block lawmakers exiting plenary hall
Ruling party walks out except Ahn Cheol-soo ahead of Yoon impeachment vote

On the afternoon of the 7th, when the impeachment vote against President Yoon Seok-yeol was held following the re-vote on the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, the area in front of the National Assembly plenary session hall was in a state of intense confrontation. In the earlier vote on the Special Prosecutor Act, 102 ruling party members cast opposing votes, causing the bill to be rejected by a margin of two votes. In response, about 200 aides from the Democratic Party of Korea shouted slogans calling the ruling party members leaving the hall "traitors."

The National Assembly held a plenary session at 5 p.m. that day and re-voted on the first agenda item, the 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act (appointment of a special prosecutor regarding allegations of stock price manipulation in Deutsche Motors involving Kim Geon-hee, the president's wife),' which had been vetoed by the president. The vote ended with 198 in favor and 102 against, ultimately failing to pass the bill. The National Assembly then proceeded with the impeachment vote against President Yoon.

On the afternoon of the 7th, after the People Power Party members finished voting on the 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act' at the National Assembly, they left the plenary hall before the vote on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. Opposition party staff and aides blocked their way, repeatedly shouting slogans calling them "collaborators." Photo by Oh Ji-eun

Ruling party members adopted a party line of 'opposition' to both agenda items. For the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act, which required a two-thirds majority based on the members present in the plenary session, they attended and cast opposing votes. Although there were six 'defections' from the ruling party, with all 300 members present, the 198 votes in favor fell short of the required 200 votes for the two-thirds majority. For the impeachment vote against President Yoon, which also required 200 votes out of 300 members present, the ruling party decided not to participate at all. Currently, all ruling party members except for Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo have left the plenary session hall.

Members of the People Power Party conducted a secret ballot on the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act and then gradually left the plenary session hall. Hundreds of opposition party officials and aides waiting outside the hall shouted "Impeach Yoon Seok-yeol," "Go in," and "Vote," creating chaos. Despite requests from National Assembly security staff to "step back a little," the crowd fiercely resisted, shouting "Where should we step back?"

Surrounding the ruling party members waiting in front of the National Assembly elevator to leave the hall, the crowd repeatedly shouted "traitors" and "impeach." Some voices also expressed, "Is this a country?" "People Power Party members are disgraceful," and "Aren't you ashamed?" Inside the plenary session hall, Floor Leader Park Chan-dae called out the names of the 107 People Power Party members who had left.

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