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Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo while attending the National Assembly plenary session on Sept. 29. (pool photo)

A motion calling for the dismissal of South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin was passed by the National Assembly. The motion was introduced by the opposition Democratic Party, which is calling on Park to take responsibility for what it regards as disastrous diplomacy during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s recent visit to the US.

Considering that the Democratic Party, which has a supermajority in the National Assembly, pushed the motion through despite objections from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and that Yoon has indicated he will reject the motion, fierce conflict is expected between the Democratic Party and the PPP even at this early point of the National Assembly’s regular session.

The National Assembly approved the motion recommending the dismissal of Park with a vote of 168 in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstaining in a plenary session convened at 6 pm on Thursday. The last time such a motion passed the National Assembly was six years ago, in 2016, when the lawmaking body recommended the dismissal of Kim Jae-soo, then minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs.

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, who has the authority to bring a dismissal motion to the floor, had called on the PPP and the Democratic Party to agree on an agenda on Thursday morning, but the two parties were unable to narrow their differences.

Veteran lawmakers with the PPP visited Kim’s office to lodge objections to putting the motion to a vote without agreement between the two sides and rejected Kim’s suggestion that the two sides could compromise by expressing “regret over the controversy about a diplomatic disaster.”

In the end, Kim decided to convene lawmakers at 6 pm and bring the motion to the floor. Given the PPP’s objection that it would be a faux pas to pass a dismissal motion against the foreign minister during a visit by the American vice president, he adjusted the session’s timeframe to coincide with Kamala Harris’ departure from the country.

PPP lawmakers arrived on the floor carrying placards that said, “Cooperation exploded, violence in parliament” and “Our anti-democratic, anti-parliamentary speaker should resign.” Song Eon-seog, the PPP’s chief deputy floor leader, took advantage of a point of order to make rhetorical jabs at the administration of Moon Jae-in, the previous president.

“What was done when Moon Jae-in was left alone for 8 of his 10 meals in China? Who was it who wrecked our relationship with Japan and the system of trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan while singing the bamboo spear song?”

Shouting was heard from lawmakers on both sides, and as soon as Song finished his remarks, lawmakers from the PPP filed out of the main hall. While both the PPP and the Justice Party abstained from the vote, the Democratic Party’s lawmakers (169) were more than adequate to make a quorum (a majority of sitting lawmakers) for passing the dismissal motion.

As soon as the motion was passed, the PPP issued a vigorous protest.

“They committed this travesty during the American vice president’s itinerary. The public will come to learn how unhelpful and dangerous it was to give the Democratic Party 169 seats,” said PPP floor leader Joo Ho-young in a meeting with reporters following the motion’s passage.

The PPP submitted a motion on Friday morning recommending the resignation of Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker, for tabling the dismissal motion without agreement between the two parties.

“Polls find that around 70% of the public give a negative rating to the president’s trip abroad. It’s only natural to hold someone accountable. The president shouldn’t disregard the fact that he’s being rebuked for diplomatic mistakes on his trip,” said Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the Democratic Party.

However, Yoon already said on Thursday morning that he doesn’t intend to replace Park Jin, whom he described as “an individual of outstanding ability.”

“Diplomacy is the last line of defense of the national interest, and it should never be sacrificed on the altar of political conflict. I will do my best on the task entrusted to me without wavering,” Park said after the motion recommending his dismissal was passed.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter; Kim Hae-jeong, staff reporter; Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

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