The National Assembly on Thursday (Nov. 5) passed a resolution urging the expulsion of People Power Party (PPP) Lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu during a plenary session, led by the pan-ruling bloc.

The resolution calling for Kim's expulsion was approved with 166 votes in favor and one invalid vote out of 167 ballots cast.

The People Power Party did not participate in the vote.

The resolution states that Kim's remarks on a YouTube broadcast asserting that the actions of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Yoon Suk Yeol "did not constitute insurrection" violated lawmakers' obligations to uphold the Constitution and maintain dignity.

Democratic Party of Korea Senior Vice Floor Leader Cheon Jun-ho, who sponsored the resolution as its primary petitioner, urged lawmakers at the plenary session to pass it, stating, "Under the guise of historical reevaluation, (Representative Kim) undermined the rule of law and made unconstitutional, outrageous remarks by denying even the Supreme Court ruling that definitively confirmed Chun Doo-hwan as the ringleader of an insurrection after three trials."

Cheon added, "This is an anti-historical act that insults and inflicts secondary trauma on the victims and bereaved families of the May 18 Democratization Movement, who sacrificed themselves for the constitutional history of the Republic of Korea and the development of democracy," noting, "Furthermore, it is a mockery of the public and the history of the Republic of Korea, and an attempt to sow national division by denying historical truth and judicial judgment while spreading sophistry."

This marks the second time a resolution calling for the expulsion of a lawmaker has passed the plenary session during the 22nd National Assembly.

Earlier, in August, the Democratic Party led the passage of a resolution in a National Assembly plenary session urging the expulsion of PPP Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook over controversy regarding the "distortion of May 18."

However, for the actual expulsion of the two lawmakers to take effect, a separate disciplinary motion must be passed in the plenary session.

Under current law, the expulsion of a lawmaker requires the approval of at least two-thirds of the total sitting members of the National Assembly.

(Photo: Yonhap News)