The National Assembly’s Judiciary Committee decided to summon the Prosecutor General and the Chief of Staff of the President as additional witnesses for the impeachment recommendation hearing of President Yoon.

Debate over the appropriateness of impeachment inquiry through petitions between ruling and opposition parties, ‘On the 16th, the National Assembly’s Legislation Judiciary Committee adopted Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and Presidential Chief of Staff Jung Jin-seok as additional witnesses in relation to the presidential impeachment petition hearing. The main opposition party opposed handling the impeachment petition at the committee before it was transferred to the committee, but as they couldn’t prevent the adoption of additional witnesses, they left.’,
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, ‘During the session, the committee also adopted 6 additional witnesses related to the suspicions surrounding First Lady Kim Geun-hui. Ruling party members protested and left, resulting in the opposition party unilaterally selecting witnesses.’,
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, ‘The newly selected witnesses for the hearing include not only the Prosecutor General and the Chief of Staff, but also Hong Cheol-ho, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Presidential Office, Song Chang-jin, the Acting Director of the High-Ranking Officials Crime Investigation Office, Kang Ui-gu, the Deputy Director of the Presidential Office, and Lee Dong-hyuk, the Presidential Archives Manager.’,
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[Image Source= Yonhap News],
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, ‘The committee plans to send summonses to these individuals to appear at the hearing. National Assembly Legislation Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the ruling party, stated, “According to the law on testifying and preparing evidence in the National Assembly, if they fail to attend without a valid reason, we can take legal action as per the National Assembly Act.”‘,
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, ‘Prior to this, the ruling and opposition parties had a debate over whether the committee can assess the impeachment petition through petitions. Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the main opposition party, argued, “The committee does not have the authority to submit impeachment proposals,” and said, “Assessing important matters that the committee has no authority over is like an unauthorized institution conducting assessments.” Arguments were also made by the main opposition party that if an impeachment trial is to be conducted, it should be done properly, and political responsibility should be taken accordingly.’,
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, ‘Another member of the main opposition party, Kwak Gyu-taek, criticized the ruling party by saying, “Despite the existence of constitutional procedures for presidential impeachment, the ruling party is planning to conduct an impeachment inquiry under the guise of a petition without following the procedures, which violates the law and constitutional order. Conducting a hearing unlawfully and against the constitution, adopting witnesses, and issuing summons, there is no justification for that.”‘,
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, ‘The ruling party decided to hold hearings on the 19th and 26th. On the 19th, the focus will be on the suspicions of external pressure related to the death of Cha Seong-byeong, and on the 26th, the allegations of stock manipulation involving First Lady Kim Geun-hui and receiving luxury bags will be discussed.’,
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