Hong Sa-duk, Grand National Party floor leader, insists on President Roh Moo-hyun's impeachment during the standing committee meeting Thursday.

The National Assembly plans to hold a plenary session on Friday and vote on the motion.

About 160 lawmakers from the Grand National Party (GNP) and the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) entered the main floor at 4:10 p.m. Thursday with House Speaker Park Kwan-yong in order to put their impeachment motion to a vote, but they couldn't even declare the opening of the session due to the obstruction of some 30 lawmakers from the Uri Party, who occupied the speaker's chair.

Park warned Uri Pary lawmakers that he couldn't help but invoke the right of self-defense if they continued occupying the House Speaker's seat but as Uri Party lawmakers refused to retreat, Park and opposition party members gave up and left the parliament at 5:55 p.m.

Choo Mi-ae, Millennium Democratic Party Supreme Council member, criticizes President Roh Moo-hyun's comment in which Roh said he would link the result of the general election to a confidence measure during an emergency standing committee meeting Thursday.

Before leaving the place, the house speaker said, "You cannot conduct parliamentary politics without knowing how to compromise and talk. You and the president should learn how to converse." He continued, "I came here, believing that my duty is to guarantee all of you a chance to express your opinions freely, but I was blocked from even taking my seat."

Some GNP and MDP members had a violent confrontation with Uri Party lawmakers, who tried to block their attempt to pass the impeachment motion by force Thursday.

Opposition parties demanded President Roh's apology for his election-related remark, but after the president refused and linked the upcoming general elections with a vote of confidence on him at a press conference Thursday, they attempted to pass the motion saying that they had no other choice but to impeach him. The two parties claimed they have secured about 190 votes in favor of the impeachment against the president, well over the 181 (two thirds of the total parliamentary seats) that are required for the motion's approval. "As of 8 p.m. yesterday, we secured enough votes, so the incumbent president is as good as impeached. Now there is only left the procedure of a final vote," said Hong Sa-duk, floor leader of the GNP.

National Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong asks Uri Party lawmakers to cooperate with the administration as Uri Party lawmakers try to impede the impeachment bill./Yonhap

However, Chung Dong-young, chairman of the Uri Party, urged opposition parties to withdraw the impeachment motion and try to resolve the political deadlock through dialogue between Roh and the heads of four major political parties. Chung vowed that his party would continue a sit-in at the parliament until the opposition backs off.

(englishnews@chosun.com )