Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Ruling party crumbles after passage of motion to impeach president
Ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon leaves his room shortly after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, Saturday. Yonhap
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Supreme Council members tender resignations, party to form emergency response committee
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) is falling apart after the National Assembly's passage of an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, triggered by his brief declaration of martial law.
Party leaders have tendered their resignations and internal divisions between those who supported and opposed the impeachment are expected to intensify.
The opposition-controlled Assembly passed the impeachment motion against Yoon with 204 votes in favor, 85 against, three abstentions, and eight invalid ballots. Given that the opposition bloc holds 192 seats out of the 300-member Assembly, the result suggests that 12 lawmakers from the PPP likely voted in favor of the impeachment, despite the party's official stance to oppose it.
After the vote, five Supreme Council members of the PPP — Reps. Kim Min-jeon, Ihn Yo-han, Jang Dong-hyeok, Jin Jong-oh and Kim Jae-won — expressed their intent to resign to take responsibility for the passage. If at least four of the council members resign, the leadership is dissolved and the party needs to form an emergency response committee system according to its regulations.
This means the ruling party chief, Han Dong-hoon, also needs to step down.
However, Han did not indicate any intention to step down. If he refuses to resign, it could result in another confrontation over who should assume the committee chief position.
The PPP said it will convene a meeting on Monday to discuss transitioning to an emergency response leadership.
Ruling People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong leaves a room after holding a meeting with PPP leader Han Dong-hoon at the National Assembly building in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap
“It breaks my heart to see painful history repeating itself. The impeachment motion has been passed, so now it is time for the Constitutional Court to deliberate on the case. I look forward to a fair decision,” Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the PPP, said.
“To restore the well-being of the people, both the ruling and opposition parties must avoid extreme confrontation. The opposition should refrain from paralyzing state affairs by misusing the impeachment process,” he added.
PPP lawmakers have been heavily divided over whether to vote in favor or against the motion. The pro-Yoon faction within the party, including Kweon, argued that all members should vote against the motion, while Han and many others pushed for a change in the PPP’s official stance.
Han reversed his position and publicly expressed his support for Yoon’s impeachment on Dec. 6, emphasizing the urgent need to swiftly suspend his presidential powers and duties to protect Korea and its people. “Today, we must think about the Republic of Korea and its people,” Han told reporters ahead of the impeachment vote on Saturday morning.
Political analysts say the PPP is grappling with a deep internal divide over the impeachment vote.
“Han cannot avoid criticism from both centrist voters and conservatives for flip-flopping. His grip on power seems to have weakened given that only 12 PPP lawmakers voted in favor of the motion. If he leaves the party, he will lose ground as a politician without the premium of being a party leader,” Eom Kyeong-young, director of the Zeitgeist Institute, a private political think tank, said.
Some PPP members also openly criticized Han and the leadership.
“The ruling party's leadership that failed to properly deal with the martial law fiasco and the opposition party’s impeachment attacks should resign en masse,” Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo wrote on his Facebook.