National Assembly impeaches Interior Minister

Feb 09, 2023, 08:48 am

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The impeachment motion of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min is being passed at the fourth plenary session held at the National Assembly in Seoul on February 8, 2023./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Choi Yeon-soo

An impeachment motion against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min passed 179 to 109, with five votes disqualified as invalid, at a plenary session of the opposition-controlled National Assembly in Seoul.

The National Assembly passed the impeachment motion on Wednesday and sent the case to the Constitutional Court. The motion was co-introduced earlier this week by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the minor progressive Justice Party and the Basic Income Party to hold the interior minister to account over the government response to the Oct. 29 Itaewon tragedy. This is the first-ever impeachment of a Cabinet member in South Korea’s 75-year constitutional history.

Before the plenary session, Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), met National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and strongly demanded that he should not arrange schedule for impeachment proceedings. However, Speaker Kim decided to put the motion to a vote at 10:30 a.m., 3 hours and 30 minutes before the plenary session, saying, “I have comprehensively considered parliamentary practices and consulted with both floor negotiators.”

Kim earlier planned to hold the vote after the ongoing parliamentary interpellation session, but the DP protested the timetable and held a vote to switch the order of proceedings and push up the vote on the impeachment motion.

Prior to the vote, the PPP claimed the requirements for impeachment have not been met as the interior minister has not violated the law and that an in-depth investigation of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee is necessary. Rep. Song Eon-seong of the PPP explained the proposal to the committee for more than 30 minutes and took the last stand before the vote. However, the ruling party’s referral to the Judiciary Committee was rejected with 181 to 106, with two void votes.

Kim Seung-won of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said in an explanation of the impeachment motion, “Minister Lee was responsible for overseeing and coordinating disaster and safety management affairs and did not take pre-disaster prevention measures.” He then called the names of 109 of the 159 victims one by one.

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