PPP Jang Dong-hyeok, “President accepting the motion to dismiss the prime minister? Not likely.”

Jang Dong-hyeok, floor spokesperson for the People Power Party makes a comment asking the Democratic Party of Korea to participate in discussions on legislation at the National Assembly on May 28. Yonhap News

On September 21, the People Power Party (PPP) spokesperson on the floor, Jang Dong-hyeok said there was little possibility that President Yoon Suk-yeol would accept the motion to dismiss Prime Minister Han Duck-soo even if the National Assembly accepted it.

Jang appeared on MBC radio Thursday and when asked, “Assuming that it (motion for the dismissal of Prime Minister Han) passes, should we say that the likelihood of the president accepting it is zero?” Jang answered, “In the case of the motion for the prime minister’s dismissal, I think we can say that.”

The PPP floor spokesperson argued, “This isn’t a parliamentary system, so their request for the entire cabinet to resign itself is not natural. They are calling for the president to dismiss the prime minister and the cabinet to resign, and they’re also seeking to impeach a prosecutor all at once. Ultimately, the Democratic Party is trying to blame the Yoon Suk-yeol government for all this, calling it political oppression and an unfair investigation by the prosecutors as an effort to reject the arrest motion today.”

Jang spoke about the motion for the arrest of Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung and said, “It seems clear that he has no intention to give up his privilege from arrest, and what he said at the last minute seems to be a request for the party as a whole to reject the motion.” On Wednesday, Lee wrote on social media, “We must not leave a precedent in which the authority of the prosecutors is used as a tool to threaten the National Assembly and to divide the opposition party.” He further said, “If we pass what is apparently an illegal and unfair arrest motion, we will give wings to the schemed investigation by a political Prosecution Service.” This has led to interpretations that Lee appealed to lawmakers to reject the arrest motion.

Jang also spoke on the possibility of a vote on the “yellow envelope bill” (amendment of Article 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act) and the Broadcasting Act and said, “I don’t think it’s likely for us to vote on the Broadcasting Act today,” and added, “If we do vote, I think it’s possible for us to vote on the yellow envelope bill.” He also said, “If the yellow envelope bill is laid before parliament, we are ready to launch a filibuster.”

The National Assembly will hold a plenary session Thursday afternoon and vote on the arrest motion for Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and on the motion for the dismissal of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Jeong Myeong-ho, director of the Proceedings Bureau at the National Assembly, announced in the parliamentary session Wednesday, “On September 18, 168 people including legislator Park Kwang-on proposed a motion to dismiss Prime Minister Han Duck-soo,” and said, “On September 19, the government submitted a motion to arrest legislator Lee Jae-myung.” Jeong added, “On September 19, 106 people including legislator Kim Yong-min proposed the impeachment of prosecutor Ahn Dong-wan.”