The ruling Saenuri Party and opposition parties Sunday hit an impasse over holding a parliamentary audit as scheduled, clashing over President Park Geun-hye’s veto of a parliamentary motion to dismiss a cabinet member.

The clash followed Cheong Wa Dae’s announcement that the president had refused to accept the opposition-led recommendation to dismiss Agriculture Minister Kim Jae-soo, saying the legislative process lacked legitimacy.

It was the first presidential veto against a National Assembly recommendation to sack a cabinet member since 1987, when the Constitution was last revised.

“President Park decided to reject the dismissal recommendation,” said Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Jeong Yeong-guk. He asserted that the parliamentary motion was irrelevant to the minister’s job qualification and the allegations against Kim, such as ethical lapses, were cleared during his hearing.

A day before, the president had hinted at her veto, denouncing the National Assembly for passing a motion she said “lacked formal procedure” at a time when South Korea faces economic and security challenges.

During a plenary session held at midnight on Saturday, the Assembly endorsed the dismissal motion 160 to 7, with three counted as invalid. All Saenuri members, totaling 129, boycotted the vote in protest of the session, despite their opposition.

The ruling Saenuri Party pledged to boycott all parliamentary sessions -- including audit sessions scheduled to kick off Monday -- unless The Minjoo Party of Korea and National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun apologized and resigned over the decision to push through dismissal bill.

“No matter how much (the opposition parties) want to take power, they shouldn’t do such things,” Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Lee Jung-hyun said in an emergency meeting. Not only did the party decide to boycott all parliamentary sessions chaired by the speaker, they also decided to seek to press criminal charges against Chung for abusing his power.

The main opposition Minjoo Party and runner-up opposition the People’s Party, on the other hand, denounced President Park and the Saenuri Party for undermining the democratic process by neglecting parliamentary procedure.   

“President Park’s decision is the epitome of her arrogance and her lack of communication with the Assembly and the people,” said the Minjoo Party Spokesman Rep. Ki Dong-min. “It is something we cannot tolerate.”

The opposition parties also shunned the Saenuri Party’s call for the speaker’s resignation and urged them to join the audit as planned. “We agreed to hold the parliamentary audit as scheduled, even if the ruling party boycotts the session,” said the Minjoo Party floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho.

Saenuri lawmakers claimed that Assembly Speaker Chung violated parliamentary laws by holding the midnight session without due coordination procedure. The session was held upon the proposal of the speaker.

“Without coordination with political parties, the speaker cannot hold additional plenary sessions,” said Rep. Kim Do-eup, the Saenuri Party’s deputy floor leader, referring to clause 77 of Assembly law, requiring the speaker to consult with political parties to change parliamentary schedules.

The speaker refuted the notion, saying his decision was made in accordance with parliamentary laws. The Assembly’s Secretariat said in a statement Sunday that the speaker had consulted with the ruling party before the vote and holding the session was “inevitable” to finalize the issue before a deadline.

By law, the legislative body must hold a plenary session to deal with a motion to recommend the dismissal of a cabinet member during a time frame of between 24 and 72 hours after the motion was submitted to the floor.

The dismissal recommendation was submitted on Thursday at 10 a.m. and the deadline was set between Friday 10 a.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.

The parliamentary audit was originally scheduled to be held for 20 days from Sept. 26. The sessions are expected to target about 700 entities and 3,000 witnesses -- including top government officials and chaebol owners such as Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group, whose shipping company filed for bankruptcy.  

Among top political agenda items at the audit is the controversy over the president’s close associates’ alleged attempts to raise illicit funds through the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation. The president denied the allegations Thursday, dismissing them as “rumors that unsettle society.”


By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)