People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk said the only path left for President Lee Jae-myung is impeachment if he continues to defy public sentiment, in remarks aimed at the president after his return from an overseas trip.
"Our people have decided to part ways with President Lee. The mood over the Chuseok holiday was that they cannot endure even three more months, let alone three years," Jang said at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 28th.
Jang escalated his attacks on the president over allegations that the investigation into a recent land mine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone was delayed.
"In June, North Korean troops were detected crossing the Military Demarcation Line and altering the status quo," he said. "Yet the president did not offer a single word of protest to North Korea. He failed to do his job and busied himself protecting Kim Jong-un's feelings, and that cost a battalion commander his ankle."
"They downplayed and covered up everything from the number of explosions to the number of injured soldiers, and only began the on-site investigation six days after the accident. They are even said to have rejected a request by the United Nations Command to conduct a field inspection," he said. "Neither the deliberate delay in the investigation nor the downplaying and concealment of the accident would have been possible without the president's order."
Jang also argued that any involvement by the president in delaying the investigation would constitute grounds for impeachment. "If the president ordered a cover-up of the accident, that is precisely grounds for impeachment," he said. "Beyond impeachment, this amounts to treasonous conduct and a crime of external aggression that should be investigated immediately."
He also took issue with the government's handling of the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war held in Ukraine. "Their faces have already been made public and their wish to come to South Korea has been confirmed, so there is no reason not to disclose the repatriation," Jang said. "If there is a reason to hide it, the only one is Kim Jong-un's discomfort."
"With more than 10,000 North Korean troops already deployed, another prisoner repatriation situation could arise," he said. "How do you expect to secure Ukraine's cooperation going forward?"
He added: "If he has no intention of protecting the people, he should not remain in the presidency. Whether he steps down himself or the people force him out, the day of reckoning is not far off."
