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| Rep. Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks at a party response meeting at the National Assembly, Nov. 29. Yonhap |
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) threatened Tuesday to impeach the interior minister over the Itaewon crowd crush should President Yoon Suk-yeol reject a no-confidence motion the party plans to put forward this week.
On Monday, the DPK decided to present a motion calling for the dismissal of Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min over the bungled emergency response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul last month.
"If the people and the National Assembly's will are dismissed as seen in the no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Park Jin, we will relentlessly push for an impeachment motion to hold him to account no matter what," Rep. Park Hong-keun, the DPK's floor leader, said in a party response meeting.
In September, the DPK, which holds a majority in the National Assembly with 169 of 299 seats, put forth a no-confidence motion against the foreign minister to hold him responsible over what it claimed was a disastrous overseas trip by Yoon.
The president rejected the legally non-binding motion.
Rep. Park pressed Yoon to accept the no-confidence motion against Minister Lee, which the DPK aims to officially put forward Wednesday for a vote at the parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Friday.
The presidential office bristled at the DPK's decision to pursue a no-confidence motion.
"If the DPK puts forward a no-confidence motion, we will fully boycott the parliamentary probe," a high ranking official told Yonhap News Agency.
Last week, the rival parties reached a compromise deal on a parliamentary probe into the tragedy, as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) dropped its objections and agreed to take part in a probe if it is conducted after the National Assembly first passes the national budget.
That deal will unravel if the DPK pushes ahead with a no-confidence motion, the presidential official said.
The angry reactions suggest Yoon is sure to reject such a motion even if it passes through the National Assembly.
The DPK says it decided to push for a no-confidence motion because Yoon refused to fire the minister. But the PPP says firing the minister even before the parliamentary investigation begins in earnest makes no sense because the probe is aimed at finding out who is responsible. (Yonhap)
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