I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
4 trouble-hit lawmakers in hot seat
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The drive to deprive two leftist party lawmakers of their parliamentary seats gained momentum Thursday as the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) turned its back on the trouble-hit politicians.
Lee Seog-ki and Kim Jae-yeon of the minor Unified Progressive Party (UPP) and two others, who have been refusing to resign despite mounting calls from within their party, risk losing their National Assembly seats.
The DUP also demanded that two more ethically-flawed lawmakers, Kim Hyang-tae and Moon Dae-sung, an Olympic taekwondo gold medalist in 2004, need to step down.
Kim Hyang-tae is under fire for an attempted sexual assault on the wife of his late brother in the mid-1990s, while Moon is facing criticism for plagiarism. The two lawmakers won in the parliamentary elections on the ruling Saenuri Party ticket, but later left it as the allegations facing them risked tarnishing the image of the conservative party.
Rep. Park Jie-won, an interim leader of the DUP, urged the two UPP lawmakers, Lee and Kim, to resign. Park hinted, otherwise, the two could be forced to leave the parliament.
The shift in the DUP’s stance on the UPP lawmakers comes weeks after the main opposition party faced mounting pressure due to Reps. Lee and Kim, who have been mired in a vote-rigging scandal.
Park voiced concern about the two UPP members, apparently to stave off the negative fallout of his party’s troubled political partner ahead of the presidential election slated for December. The DUP and the UPP formed a coalition before the April 11 National Assembly elections.
On Thursday, the ruling Saenuri Party welcomed Park’s remarks, suggesting that the conservative party is willing to cooperate with the DUP.
In an interview, Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, the floor leader of the ruling camp, said his party would wait for the next few days to see if the two UPP lawmakers give up their parliamentary posts voluntarily. If they don’t, he said, he would sit down with his DUP counterpart to push for a vote to oust them.
Lee also said his party would be willing to discuss the cases involving Kim Hyeong-tae and Moon when dealing with the fate of the two trouble-hit UPP members.
The ruling and main opposition parties will be able to discuss these steps after a National Assembly speaker is chosen, which will be in late July or early August. The new National Assembly members were sworn in as lawmakers on May 30. Inter-party negotiations on which side will chair the standing committees are underway.
During the meeting with senior lawmakers, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon said the ruling party is anticipating working jointly with the DUP to expel the two progressive party lawmakers.
Under the current law, lawmakers can request the National Assembly speaker to investigate whether their colleagues are qualified to undertake public service. Thirty or more lawmakers must sign the motion for it to progress.
The speaker can table the agenda during the plenary session to ask the members of the legislature to vote on the fate of the lawmaker in question.
If two thirds of the 300 National Assemblymen vote for the motion, the lawmaker will lose his or her seat.
The ruling Saenuri Party having 150 parliamentary seats and the DUP with 127 seats, have agreed to take this measure. Reps. Lee and Kim may lose their seat as the two major parties can meet the required quorum.