MOTION TO IMPEACH LEE SANG-MIN SUBMITTED

[Anchor Lead]

The opposition bloc including the main opposition Democratic Party decided to jointly submit a motion to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to hold him accountable for the government's mishandling of the Itaewon tragedy. If the motion is passed at the plenary session tomorrow, it will mark the first impeachment of a Cabinet minister in the nation's constitutional history, and Lee will be immediately suspended from his role. Minister Lee made his stance clear that he has no intention to step down and the ruling party said "no illegal acts were found by the minister" and that the "DP will then face huge backlash and the public's judgment".

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The Democratic Party convened a general meeting of its lawmakers just 4 days after the previous one. It decided to submit a motion to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min based on an online poll where over 80% of its members supported the move. Along with the Justice Party and Basic Income Party, the number of lawmakers taking part in the move has gone up to 176. The opposition bloc said the minister's failure to take preventive measures before the crowd crush and failure to swiftly respond after it was the reason behind the impeachment. They argue Lee violated the constitutional duty to protect the public as well as the disaster safety management act. They also claimed that some of his remarks amounted to secondary victimization attacks and that he also tried to evade responsibility during a parliamentary probe, breaching the duty to maintain dignity as a public official.

[Soundbite] Park Hong-keun(Floor Leader, Democratic Party) : "I believe the constitutional court will rule in favor of impeachment. This is a duty the majority-holding DP must take on."

The motion must be voted on by Wednesday in accordance with the National Assembly law and must get a majority vote for it to be passed. If passed, it will mark the first impeachment of a Cabinet minister in the nation's constitutional history. Passage of the motion will immediately result in a suspension of the minister's authority until the Constitutional Court rules on the case. Lee has reiterated he has no intention to step down.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-min(Minister of Interior and Safety) : "As I’ve said repeatedly, I will do my best in my current position."

The ruling party has criticized the DP saying the police investigation and parliamentary probe found no illegal acts by the minister.

[Soundbite] Jang Dong-hyeok(Floor spokesperson, PPP) : "If the court rejects the case, the DP will then face huge backlash and the public’s judgment."

The presidential office said an impeachment should only be reserved for incidents involving a grave infringement of the constitution or law. It also cited experts' opinion that such an impeachment move could set a bad precedent.