Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized on the 12th the National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik's call for immediate appointment of Constitutional Court nominee Ma Eun-hyeok to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, saying it constitutes "abuse of power and coercion." He urged that the appointment of nominee Ma should be suspended until the conclusion of the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol.
On the same day, Floor Leader Kweon held an emergency briefing at the National Assembly and stated, "I cannot understand why Speaker Woo suddenly held a press conference to urge Deputy Prime Minister Choi regarding nominee Ma, stating it is a form of coercion and abuse of power."
Earlier, Speaker Woo demanded Deputy Prime Minister Choi's immediate appointment of nominee Ma, asserting that failure to do so would deny the Constitution. He argued that since the Constitutional Court had judged the delay in nominee Ma's appointment as unconstitutional in the related dispute over authority, this must be upheld.
In response, the People Power Party argued that the Speaker of the National Assembly, who should maintain political neutrality, is exhibiting political bias by distorting the Constitutional Court's ruling on the authority dispute. They contended that even if the Constitutional Court deemed it unconstitutional in their ruling, there is no authority to enforce it, so Deputy Prime Minister Choi has no obligation to appoint nominee Ma immediately.
Floor Leader Kweon asserted, "The Constitutional Court's ruling indicated that Deputy Prime Minister Choi's failure to appoint nominee Ma was merely described as 'a violation of the rights of constitutional institutions,' and did not compel the appointment or acknowledge nominee Ma's status as a candidate for constitutional judge," stating, "Choi's failure to appoint nominee Ma is not a violation of the Constitution."
The People Power Party believes that Speaker Woo's demand for nominee Ma's appointment aims to adjust the composition of the Constitutional Court in favor of the Democratic Party during the impeachment turmoil. With the conclusion of the impeachment trial of President Yoon and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo imminent, they argue that appointing nominee Ma, who represents the Democratic Party, would exacerbate allegations of unfairness regarding the Constitutional Court.
He further urged Deputy Prime Minister Choi not to comply with such demands from Speaker Woo and to maintain his constitutional perspective. The People Power Party is calling for the appointment of nominee Ma Eun-hyeok to be postponed until the conclusion of the impeachment trial of President Yoon and Prime Minister Han.
Floor Leader Kweon also harshly criticized Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung for requesting a second constitutional review ahead of the appellate trial concerning charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. He stated, "Lee has made remarks in various YouTube videos or interviews implying that his appellate trial regarding election law violations will be decided favorably. For someone who speaks so confidently and boldly, to request a second constitutional review is a petty and embarrassing attitude for a person referred to as the 'emperor of Yeouido.'"
Earlier, on the 11th, Lee requested a constitutional review during the appellate trial regarding charges of violating the election law. Lee's side had previously applied for a constitutional review regarding the same appellate trial on the 4th of last month. A request for constitutional review involves asking the Constitutional Court to determine whether the law applicable to a case currently being tried in court is unconstitutional. If the court accepts this, the trial is delayed until the Constitutional Court's decision is rendered. The ruling party takes the position that this is a 'strategy to delay the trial.'