[Law & Story] The Democratic Party Must Stop Abusing Impeachment and Confirmation Hearings

Impeachment: The Last Resort for "Serious Legal Violations"
16 Hearings, Including Those Announced for the 22nd National Assembly
Judiciary Must Not Be Used as a Tool for Political Strife

Seokjin Choi, Legal Affairs Reporter

These days, there is a particular type of news that frequently catches the eye on TV. It is news related to impeachment and confirmation hearings.

The impeachment cases that the public likely remembers are those involving the late former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and former President Park Geun-hye in 2016.

However, since the Democratic Party secured a majority in the National Assembly in 2021, impeachment motions have been passed against former High Court Chief Judge Im Seong-geun, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, and prosecutors Andongwan, Son Jun-sung, and Lee Jeong-seop. Recently, an impeachment motion against Lee Jin-sook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, was passed, resulting in her suspension from duty just two days after taking office. Impeachment motions have also been proposed against four incumbent prosecutors involved in investigations or trials related to former party leader Lee Jae-myung, and a bill has even been introduced to include the Director of the Independence Hall of Korea as a subject of impeachment.

Confirmation hearings are even more intense. There are so many types that it is hard to immediately understand what kind of hearing is being reported in the news. The confirmation hearing for Chairperson Lee, whose impeachment was announced by the opposition party, lasted for three days. Lee, who was suspended due to impeachment, also appeared as a witness at another hearing dubbed the “broadcasting control” hearing. There was even a hearing for the “Petition to Request the Impeachment Motion of President Yoon Seok-youl.”

Excluding personnel confirmation hearings, legislative and current issue hearings were held only four times each during the 19th and 20th National Assemblies, and five times during the 21st National Assembly. However, since the opening of the 22nd National Assembly, nine hearings have already been held, and including those announced by the Democratic Party, the total number reaches 16.

Impeachment is a system to remove high-ranking public officials who have violated the Constitution or laws in a serious manner?so serious that they warrant dismissal from their position?through a motion passed by the National Assembly and a judgment by the Constitutional Court. It is said to be the last resort used when ordinary disciplinary or investigative procedures are ineffective.

Previously, in the impeachment case of former President Roh, the Constitutional Court acknowledged that he had violated the Public Official Election Act at the time but dismissed the impeachment petition on the grounds that it was not a “serious legal violation” warranting removal from office.

Currently, the Democratic Party is abusing the impeachment and confirmation hearing systems under the Constitution and the National Assembly Act by leveraging its majority in the National Assembly. They bring up impeachment and hold related hearings to see whether to proceed with impeachment, using these as tools to pressure the president, government officials they dislike, and prosecutors who investigated the party leader.

It raises suspicion that this is not because they truly believe the impeachment conditions are met and that the Constitutional Court will uphold it, but rather because just the National Assembly’s impeachment motion can suspend the accused’s duties, and they can broadcast attacks on the president or government live on TV, making it a “political show” with nothing to lose.

Representative examples include Jeong Cheong-rae, Chairperson of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, holding the National Assembly Act book and stopping witnesses from speaking, expelling them from the hearing room, and even mentioning a “compulsory attendance order” without any legal basis.

The Democratic Party must stop using impeachment and confirmation hearings, under the pretext of the public’s right to know, in ways that contradict the essence of the system and drag the judiciary into political strife.

If this continues, shouldn’t there be a comprehensive hearing calling in all related parties?including Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption case; former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, suspected of “trial trading”; Kim, who allegedly was coached to commit perjury by Lee; and the bereaved families of those who passed away during the investigation of Lee?before the results of the various trials related to former party leader Lee come out?