{"id":2200048,"date":"2023-02-13T10:13:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T10:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2200048"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:09:46","slug":"how-interior-ministers-impeachment-could-worsen-south-koreas-partisan-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/how-interior-ministers-impeachment-could-worsen-south-koreas-partisan-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"How interior minister\u2019s impeachment could worsen South Korea\u2019s partisan divide"},"content":{"rendered":"
The opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to <\/span>impeach<\/span><\/a> Interior Minister Lee Sang-min last week <\/span>over last year\u2019s <\/span>Itaewon crowd crush disaster<\/span><\/a>, marking the first impeachment of a Cabinet official.<\/span><\/p>\n On Wednesday, the votes of 179 lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and two minor opposition parties \u2014 the Justice Party and the Basic Income Party \u2014 passed the minimum threshold needed to <\/span>introduce<\/span><\/a> the impeachment motion to hold Lee accountable for what critics call the government\u2019s bungled response to the crowd crush disaster that led to the deaths of <\/span>159<\/span><\/a> people.<\/span><\/p>\n Article 65 of the ROK Constitution<\/span><\/a> grants the National Assembly the right to impeach any government official, but caveats abound. Article 65, Section 1 declares that the National Assembly can impeach any official. Still, it specifies that those officials can only be impeached if they have \u201cviolated the Constitution or other Acts in the performance of official duties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s far from clear whether Lee did in fact violate the constitution, and public opinion appears split. But regardless of whether the Supreme Court upholds the impeachment,\u00a0 South Korea\u2019s deeply divided partisan politics means the incident is likely to increase distrust and enmity between the two major political parties.<\/span><\/p>\n THE STANDOFF<\/b><\/p>\n The decision to remove Lee from office did not come as a surprise, as parliament initially passed a <\/span>motion<\/span><\/a> to dismiss him on Dec. 11. It was the second time the DP attempted to dismiss a member of Yoon\u2019s Cabinet. The DP passed a similar motion to <\/span>dismiss<\/span><\/a> Foreign Minister Park Jin in September over what it claimed was a disastrous overseas trip by President Yoon Suk-yeol when cameras purportedly caught Yoon insulting the U.S. Congress and President Joe Biden.<\/span><\/p>\n Yoon ignored both motions. While the DP moved on from its attempts to sack Park, it has remained insistent that Lee be removed from office, culminating in impeachment proceedings.\u00a0 Immediately after the motion was passed, Lee was suspended from all ministerial duties and will remain so until the Constitutional Court has adjudicated within six months.<\/span><\/p>\n Among the nine justices of the Constitutional Court, six must agree to rule in favor of impeachment to remove Lee from office permanently. Barring that, he will be reinstated.<\/span><\/p>\n The presidential office and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) responded strongly to the impeachment motion.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is the renunciation of parliamentarism. It will be recorded as a shameful event in the history of parliamentary politics,\u201d Yoon\u2019s office told journalists.<\/span><\/p>\n