Ahead of Yoon's Arrest Deadline... Ruling Party "Majority Tyranny" vs Opposition "Choi Sang-mok's Responsibility"

Ruling Party Expects Backlash After Excluding Treason from Impeachment Charges
Opposition Mentions Need to Impeach Choi Sang-mok... "Second Treason"

The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is escalating to the extreme ahead of the expiration of the arrest deadline for President Yoon Suk-yeol. The ruling party criticized the exclusion of the charge of treason from the impeachment grounds against President Yoon as a "fraudulent impeachment." The opposition party mentioned the impeachment of the special prosecutor and Choi Sang-mok, the acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance.

On the 6th, in front of the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, along with other party members, expressed their stance on the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol, following the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department's official letter stating that the execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon would be entrusted to the police. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

On the 6th, about 30 members of the People Power Party gathered near the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and took collective action to prevent the execution of the arrest warrant against President Yoon. Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, said, "The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (PCC) is pretending that an investigation without investigative authority is an exercise of its own authority," adding, "It is a reversed argument that, after being given the authority to investigate abuse of power, they are now threatening to shake the main body." He also criticized the Seoul Western District Court, which issued the arrest warrant, saying, "The Criminal Procedure Act explicitly states that seizure and search cannot be conducted without the approval of the administrator in national security facilities," and argued that "(President Yoon) has the legal right to refuse an act that is naturally invalid."

The People Power Party criticized that the attempt to arrest President Yoon originated from pressure by the large opposition party. Kwon Young-se, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, said at an emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, "The Democratic Party of Korea is framing this as an insurrection with the goal of holding an early presidential election before the second trial verdict on Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act, and is rushing forward at the cost of destroying the rule of law," adding, "They are putting all their organizational fate on the PCC and applying all-out pressure. This is beyond the tyranny of the majority party; it is dictatorship."

The People Power Party is expecting a backlash starting from the exclusion of the charge of treason from the impeachment grounds against President Yoon. Senior members of the People Power Party with four or more terms and members of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee plan to visit the Constitutional Court on the same day to demand a suspension of the impeachment review. Kwon Young-se, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, said the day before, "The Democratic Party should apologize to the public for the fraudulent impeachment and re-vote on the impeachment bill," adding, "It is a very common-sense action to ask the National Assembly again."

On the other hand, the Democratic Party insisted that President Yoon should be arrested as soon as possible and pressured Acting Prime Minister Choi. At a party meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Lee Jae-myung said, "The Security Office is resisting the execution of the arrest warrant lawfully issued by the court with force, and the acting president is not restraining but rather supporting it," adding, "We must seriously hold the acting president accountable for this disorderly conduct and the second act of insurrection."

The Democratic Party also raised the necessity of impeaching Acting Prime Minister Choi. They viewed his refusal to cooperate with the PCC's request to execute the arrest warrant against President Yoon as aiding the arrest and stepped up pressure. Yoon Jong-gun, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, said after the party meeting the day before, "There were many strong reactions to Acting Prime Minister Choi at the party meeting," adding, "There were individual opinions suggesting that Choi should be impeached, but the party did not adopt this as an official stance."

The Democratic Party plans to pressure the government and ruling party by mobilizing the re-vote on the general special prosecutor law for treason and the special prosecutor law for First Lady Kim Keon-hee, known as the 'double special prosecutor law.' They seem to be expecting defections from the ruling party as when the impeachment bill against President Yoon was passed. The re-vote is expected to take place as early as the next day’s plenary session. No Jong-myeon, the Democratic Party spokesperson, said on the 3rd, "The reason why we see the need for a prompt vote on the double special prosecutor law is to reduce variables," adding, "The first goal is a re-vote, and even if it fails, we can quickly push the law again and respond accordingly."

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