On the morning of November 3, at a press conference held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Hwang Unha, the floor leader of the Innovation Party, laid out the strategy for the party’s operations in November, including their offensive stance against the ruling party. He also announced their plan to simultaneously pursue impeachment and constitutional amendments, with an intention to release a draft of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol within the month. Hwang urged the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, which is currently moderating its stance on impeachment, to join their efforts in preparing for impeachment.
According to Hwang, the Innovation Party has outlined 17 grounds for impeachment, including issues such as the president’s disregard for the legitimacy of the Provisional Government, oversight on Japan’s Fukushima wastewater discharge, abuse of veto power, undermining legislative power through executive orders, and suspicions of external pressure on customs drug investigations. Other reasons include the president’s alleged tacit approval of multiple illegal activities by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, the undermining of the Corruption Investigation Office, neglecting illegal expansion of the presidential residence, regression in National Intelligence Service reforms, infringement on press freedom, negligence in protecting public safety in incidents such as the Itaewon and Osong tragedies, meddling in party affairs, and the Myeongtaegyun Gate scandal.
The Innovation Party plans to make the draft public on their website, inviting citizens to contribute suggestions in a “Wikipedia” format before finalizing it.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party remains cautious in publicly discussing “impeachment.” Although some party leaders have started mentioning impeachment, there is a noticeable gap between their approach and the Innovation Party’s aggressive actions, such as forming an impeachment committee in July and holding events like the “Impeachment Declaration Rally.” Hwang suggests that the Democratic Party’s leadership might be reluctant due to the high hurdles of securing 200 votes for passage and achieving endorsement by the Constitutional Court. However, he believes that the public’s demand for impeachment is so strong that the party will eventually have to join the efforts.
About six Innovation Party members, including Hwang, have formed a preparatory group with some Democratic Party legislators to explore constitutional amendment options, such as reducing President Yoon’s term by two years. By monitoring public opinion and the ruling party’s stance, the Innovation Party aims to decide the most effective strategy between impeachment and constitutional amendment. While acknowledging the risks of impeachment, Hwang notes that the ruling party might find amending the constitution to end the president’s term less impactful, thus more feasible. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the party’s fundamental stance remains focused on impeachment, although they are preparing concurrently for constitutional amendments.
The Innovation Party is also planning to host seven “Impeachment Tea Room” events across major cities, with the next one scheduled for November 7 in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. They recently visited Daegu, known as the “heart of conservatism,” where Hwang noted that public sentiment aligned with a Gallup poll indicating an 18% approval rating for the president. Following their “Prosecutorial Reform and Presidential Impeachment Declaration Rally” in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul last month, the Innovation Party is organizing a second rally on November 16.