First no-confidence motion against prime minister passes

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivers his welcoming remarks at the Global Education and Innovation Summit at Coex Convention Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The National Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday afternoon.

It marks the first time since the current Constitution was adopted that the legislature has recommended the dismissal of an incumbent prime minister.

The vote on the motion fell largely along party lines, with 175 votes in favor and 116 votes opposing. Four votes were marked as invalid.

The recommendation for Han’s dismissal was brought forward on Monday by the liberal Democratic Party (DP), which controls a 167-seat majority in the legislature. Its rival, the government-aligned, conservative People Power Party, currently holds 111 seats.

The DP has accused Han of serious incompetence as chief of the Cabinet and said the motion was necessary to hold him responsible for a litany of alleged failures by the Yoon administration, such as its lukewarm response to Japan’s release of radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the debacle of last month’s World Scout Jamboree.

The no-confidence motion against Han is the third such motion to be passed by the DP-controlled National Assembly since Yoon took office in May last year.

The first was against Foreign Minister Park Jin in the aftermath of widely reported diplomatic gaffes committed by the president during a trip to London and New York last September, while the second was against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min for his alleged failure to prevent and properly follow up on the deadly crowd crush that claimed over 150 lives in the nightlife quarter of Itaewon during Halloween festivities last year.

Yoon rejected both motions and is expected to reject the latest one against Han as well.

Unlike impeachment, which results in an official’s automatic suspension from their post until the Constitutional Court reaches a final decision, no-confidence motions do not carry the force of law.

The presidential office has argued that the DP’s most recent call for the prime minister’s dismissal is aimed at consolidating internal party cohesion and diverting public attention away from the arrest motion against DP leader Jae-myung, which will be voted on later this afternoon.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]