Arya News - For the second day on Sunday, the Democratic Party leadership asked all of its 170 lawmakers to take to the streets of central Seoul, urging the Constitutional Court to swiftly reach a verdict on Mr. Yoon`s impeachment.
SEOUL – After the court released President Yoon Suk Yeol from detention, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea responded with renewed threats of impeachment and ramped-up anti-Yoon protests around Seoul.
The Democratic Party on Sunday turned its attacks to the country’s prosecution service for not appealing the court’s decision to revoke Yoon’s detention, threatening to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung ― and possibly acting President Choi Sang-mok.
After a meeting of the entire Democratic Party on Sunday, Rep. Park Chan-dae, the party’s floor leader, said Shim “needs to immediately resign” as the chief of the prosecution service or face forcible removal through impeachment.
Park said the prosecutor general neglected his duty by failing to “correct the court’s misapplication of the law.” “Shim should have filed charges immediately when the court refused to extend Yoon’s detention,” he said.
“If the prosecutor general refuses to step down voluntarily, the Democratic Party will impeach him,” the Democratic Party floor leader added.
The Democratic Party was also mulling whether to file an impeachment motion against Choi, the acting president, who is the second acting president to fill in for Yoon after he was suspended in December last year over his botched martial law declaration.
The Democratic Party also said it would file criminal charges against the prosecutor general, but without specifying what charges would be applied.
For the second day on Sunday, the Democratic Party leadership asked all of its 170 lawmakers to take to the streets of central Seoul, urging the Constitutional Court to swiftly reach a verdict on Yoon’s impeachment.
“The Democratic Party would be operating in an emergency mode until the Constitutional Court gives its final verdict to remove Yoon from office,” Park, the party’s floor leader, told reporters Sunday. Park said the Democratic Party lawmakers would be joining the pro-impeachment rallies and staying on standby for possible emergencies.
The ruling People Power Party slammed the Democratic Party on Sunday for weaponizing impeachment and pressuring the judiciary to make decisions that suit the party’s political agenda.
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the People Power Party’s floor leader, said at a press conference that the Democratic Party has “made a habit out of impeaching” top officials, concerning its latest threats against the prosecutor general. The Democratic Party was also waging a “pressure campaign” against the Constitutional Court, he added.
Kweon argued that Yoon’s arrest and detention were “unlawful from the start,” as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which filed the president’s warrant with the court, in his view does not have the authority to investigate insurrection, for which the president is accused.
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