44 People Power Party lawmakers gather at presidential residence

About 40 People Power Party lawmakers gathered in front of the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Monday morning, the last day of the execution period for the first arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk Yeol. Rep. Kim Ki-hyun said, “The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has no authority to investigate internal rebellion.” Rep. Lee Cheol-gyu, who was present, visited the National Police Agency that afternoon and argued, “The Presidential Security Service’s refusal to arrest is a legitimate right.” The number of lawmakers in front of the residence was 44, more than 40% of the 108 party members. Emergency Council Vice Chairman Kwon Young-se and Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong did not attend, but the two secretaries attended.

The People Power Party said that the lawmakers went in their personal capacity, but their gathering in Hannam-dong shows how far the ruling party is from public sentiment and common sense. The 44 people likely participated in the physical obstruction of the security service if the Public Prosecutor’s Office had attempted to arrest the president that day. The urgent task now is to investigate the president and determine the truth about martial law through the Constitutional Court’s judgment. Through this, the national chaos should be resolved as soon as possible. However, the 44 lawmakers in Hannam-dong seem to be more interested in neutralizing public power and buying time by talking about “illegal warrants” to create a favorable election schedule.

Their actions are reminiscent of the night of martial law on December 3. Of the 190 lawmakers who voted in favor of lifting martial law in the National Assembly that night, only 18 were from the ruling party. About 50 people close to the pro-Yoon mainstream stayed at the party headquarters and watched the voting scene in the plenary session on TV without participating in the vote. Many of them overlap with the 44 people who opposed the execution of the warrants when martial law was lifted. The People Power Party is distancing itself from the president while turning a blind eye to the pro-Yoon mainstream’s extra-parliamentary actions to defend the president. It is observing the public opinion of some of its strong supporters.

The fact that spokesperson Kim Min-soo, appointed by the Kwon Young-se-led emergency committee, resigned on Monday, the first day of his term, epitomizes the ruling party’s problems. On December 5 last year, two days after the declaration of martial law, former spokesperson Kim appeared on a right-wing YouTube channel and praised the deployment of the military to the Central Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, saying, “This is the Gwacheon Landing Operation. This is the real Yoon Suk Yeol. He showed us a real deal.” Kim has consistently raised the issue of the legitimacy of martial law and the possibility of election fraud. Despite this, he was nominated for the spokesperson position without any particular restrictions and was appointed. This means that there is a problem with the ruling party’s warning system.