'First Impeachment of a Sitting Prosecutor'... National Assembly Approves Impeachment of Prosecutor Andongwan for 'Abuse of Prosecution Rights'

Impeachment Motion Passed Led by the Opposition Party

The National Assembly on the 21st passed a resolution to impeach Prosecutor Andongwan, who was ruled to have abused prosecutorial authority.

On the same day, the National Assembly held a plenary session and approved the impeachment motion against Prosecutor An. This is the first time in constitutional history that a sitting prosecutor has been impeached by the National Assembly.

Bae Jin-kyo, the floor leader of the Justice Party, is delivering a representative speech of the non-negotiating groups at the National Assembly plenary session on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The National Assembly voted on the impeachment motion against Prosecutor An, resulting in 180 votes in favor, 105 against, and 2 invalid votes, passing the motion. The impeachment motion was mainly initiated by opposition party members, including those from the Democratic Party of Korea. Accordingly, it is presumed that the majority of votes in the secret ballot were led by opposition lawmakers.

Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Hyeyoung, who explained the proposal, stated, "Prosecutor Andongwan, the subject of this impeachment motion, retaliated by prosecuting a case that had already been deferred after evidence in the Seoul city government official espionage fabrication case was revealed to have been fabricated, putting the prosecution in a major crisis." She added, "The court recognized for the first time the prosecution's abuse of prosecutorial authority and clearly identified it as a retaliatory prosecution." She further introduced, "Although the Supreme Court ruling proved to the world the illegality of Prosecutor Andongwan's retaliatory prosecution, he continues to serve as a prosecutor without any sanctions."

Previously, the Supreme Court ruled that Prosecutor An's indictment of Yoo Woosung, a victim in the 2021 Seoul city government official espionage fabrication case, constituted an 'abuse of prosecutorial authority.'

Lawmaker Choi said, "This prosecutor impeachment may appear to be about impeaching one prosecutor, but it is a fight against a prosecutorial regime that violates the Constitution and laws, destroys democracy, and does not fear the sovereign people." She added, "Just as we resisted the military dictatorship, this prosecutor impeachment is a resistance against the prosecutorial dictatorship wielding absolute power without remorse for wrongdoing," and argued, "We must put a brake on the prosecution's absolute power."

Earlier, on the 19th, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yongmin and 106 others proposed the impeachment motion against Prosecutor An.