National Assembly Passes Resolution Urging Expulsion of Kim Tae-gyu
The National Assembly passed a resolution urging the expulsion of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu over his remarks denying the December 2024 martial law incident amounted to insurrection, with the vote led by the ruling party and its allied opposition parties at a plenary session on Saturday. The resolution states that Kim violated his duty as a member of the National Assembly to uphold the Constitution and maintain dignity when he said on a YouTube broadcast that the actions of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Yoon Suk-yeol were "not insurrection." Of the 167 ballots cast, 166 were in favor and one was invalid; People Power Party lawmakers did not take part in the vote.
Cheon Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's senior deputy floor leader, who introduced the resolution, urged its passage at the session, saying that Kim, "under the banner of historical reassessment, denied even the Supreme Court ruling that finalized Chun Doo-hwan's conviction as the ringleader of insurrection after three trials, undermining the rule of law and making unconstitutional remarks." Cheon also criticized the lawmaker's actions as "anti-historical acts that insulted the victims and bereaved families of the May 18 democratic uprising and constituted secondary victimization," adding that they amounted to "an attempt to divide the nation."
At the same plenary session, the Assembly also passed, under the leadership of the ruling camp, a resolution to form a special committee on strategic industrial complexes in super-wide economic zones to support the government's three mega projects. Of the 163 lawmakers present, 145 voted in favor, 10 opposed, and 8 abstained. While most People Power Party members stayed away from the vote, 10 of them, including Kim Sung-won, Kim Seung-soo and Park Jeong-ha, voted against it, and four others — Yun Jong-oh, Jeong Hye-kyung and Son Sol of the Progressive Party and Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party — abstained.
The People Power Party had opposed forming the special committee since the review stage in standing committees, but did not stage a filibuster on the day. The committee will consist of 18 members — 10 from the Democratic Party, six from the People Power Party and two from minor parties — including the chair, and will remain active until Jan. 31 next year.
