Rival political parties clashed on Friday during an inaugural hearing session of the parliamentary Legislation and Judiciary Committee currently underway regarding a public petition calling for a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Prior to and during the meeting, the ruling People Power Party(PPP) picketed in front of the committee conference room, calling the hearing "illegal" as it was organized by the opposition without bipartisan agreement.

Main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Jung Chung-rae, who chairs the committee, stated that “some lawmakers” had physically attempted to block members from entering the room, and warned that he has the right to invoke parliamentary rights to security and maintenance of order.

The parties also clashed over PPP committee member Rep. Joo Jin-woo, former presidential secretary, allegedly being one of the people who had received a call from a landline number held by the Presidential Security Service last July.

The call was allegedly made before then-Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup ordered a deferment on the transfer to the civilian police of initial Marine probe results, following the death of a Marine during a rain victims search and rescue operation.

While the DP called to exclude Joo from the committee, citing conflict of interest, Joo denied directly speaking to the president over the matter, declaring to take legal steps should the opposition make further comments outside the committee.