Kwon Seong-dong: "Special Investigation on Rebellion Ineffective... Requested Acting Chief Choi to Exercise Veto"

"Moon Hyung-bae, Close with Lee Jae-myung Since Judicial Training Institute Days"
"Jeong Gye-seon and Lee Mi-seon Also from the Uri-beop Research Group"
"Even if Authority Dispute Is Accepted, Ma Eun-hyuk Should Not Be Appointed"

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, announced on the 30th that he requested Choi Sang-mok, Acting President (Deputy Prime Minister for Economy), to exercise his veto power (request for reconsideration) against the special investigation bill on the internal rebellion that the Democratic Party of Korea passed unilaterally. He also raised concerns about the fairness of the Constitutional Court, which is currently conducting the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol, and urged certain justices to recuse themselves from the trial.

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On that day, at a National Assembly press briefing, Floor Leader Kwon stated, "Even if a special investigation is launched while President Yoon is already under indictment in custody, there is no subject for investigation," and argued, "A special investigation is no longer necessary."

He emphasized, "The special investigation law, which the Democratic Party passed unilaterally in the plenary session of the National Assembly without bipartisan agreement, did not meet the conditions for Acting President Choi to exercise his veto power," adding, "Especially since there has been a significant change in circumstances with President Yoon’s detention, the special investigation lacks effectiveness."

Earlier, on the 31st of last month, Acting President Choi exercised his veto power against the first special investigation law on internal rebellion, which the Democratic Party had broadly designated the investigation targets, and called for compromise between the ruling and opposition parties. However, after the Democratic Party subsequently narrowed the investigation targets and passed the second special investigation law unilaterally on the 17th, the People Power Party requested the exercise of veto power on this as well.

Floor Leader Kwon also raised concerns about the fairness of the Constitutional Court, which is handling President Yoon’s impeachment trial. He criticized, "While the Constitutional Court ignores the impeachment trial of former Prime Minister Han Deok-su, it is pushing forward with the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court justice nominee," and said, "It is clear that there is an intention to increase the possibility of accepting the presidential impeachment."

He continued, "Behind all unfair trials, there is a political and judicial cartel of the Democratic Party and judges from the Uri-beop Research Group," pointing out, "Members of the National Assembly’s impeachment prosecution team, Choi Ki-sang and Park Beom-gye, are also from the Uri-beop Research Group."

Furthermore, Floor Leader Kwon mentioned the issue of political neutrality among the Constitutional Court justices, stating, "Considering that Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae and Justices Jeong Gye-seon and Lee Mi-seon are from the Uri-beop Research Group, controversy over fairness is inevitable." He added, "Acting Chief Justice Moon is a classmate of Representative Lee Jae-myung from the Judicial Research and Training Institute and is recognized as the closest person to Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Seong-ho."

He said, "Justice Lee Mi-seon’s younger sibling serves as the vice-chair of the 'Yoon Seok-yeol Resignation Special Committee,' and Justice Jeong Gye-seon’s husband works at the same law firm as lawyer Kim Yi-su, who is part of the impeachment prosecution legal team," and questioned, "Should constitutional adjudication be reduced to a 'family business'?"

Floor Leader Kwon urged, "If these justices are in charge of the impeachment trial, fairness cannot be guaranteed," and called for "voluntary recusal." He also claimed that lawyer Kim Yi-su, who is acting as a lawyer for the impeachment prosecution team, "should resign from his position as a lawyer for the National Assembly prosecution team to quell the controversy."

Regarding the Democratic Party’s announcement to engage in pension reform discussions, Floor Leader Kwon said, "The People Power Party always welcomes discussions on pension reform," and proposed, "Let us immediately form a special committee on pension reform in the National Assembly and start full-scale discussions."

He added, "We are ready to put all options on the table and negotiate in the pension reform special committee," and said, "Unless the Democratic Party uses pension reform discussions as a political tool with early presidential elections in mind, there should be no reason to reject the proposal to form the special committee."

Additionally, Floor Leader Kwon stated regarding the authority dispute trial over Acting President Choi Sang-mok’s withholding of the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court justice nominee, which is scheduled to be announced on February 3, "Even if the Constitutional Court accepts the authority dispute trial from the National Assembly, my basic position is that Acting President Choi should not make the appointment without bipartisan agreement."

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