Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Leadership: "Constitutional Court Rejection Expected, Prosecution Impeachment Is Putting Cart Before the Horse and Abuse of Power"

Seoul Central District Prosecutors General 1, 2, and 3 Jointly Statement
"Targeting Investigation Results, Impeachment of Prosecution... Violation of Administrative Authority and Separation of Powers"

The first, second, and third deputy prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office urged the opposition party to stop their attempt to impeach Lee Chang-soo, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office operates under a system with one chief prosecutor and four deputy prosecutors, and all members of the leadership, except for Lee Chang-soo and fourth deputy prosecutor Cho Sang-won, who are the targets of the impeachment push, issued a joint statement.

On the 26th, Park Seung-hwan, first deputy prosecutor, Gong Bong-suk, second deputy prosecutor, and Lee Sung-sik, third deputy prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office released a joint statement on the internal prosecution network, e-Pros, stating, "The unconstitutional and abusive attempts to impeach prosecutors must be stopped immediately."

They said, "If there are objections to the investigation results, the appeal procedures should be conducted within the criminal justice system, such as through appeals and re-appeals," adding, "Targeting prosecutors for impeachment based on the results themselves constitutes an infringement on the essential nature of administrative authority and is highly likely to violate the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law."

They further emphasized, "In a situation where there are no grounds for impeachment and it is highly expected that the Constitutional Court will dismiss the case, forcibly proceeding with the impeachment process can only be seen as an attempt to suspend the duties of public officials," and added, "Using impeachment as a means to achieve the goal of suspension of duties is a reversal of cause and effect and an abuse of power."

They stated, "Since September of last year, nine prosecutors have had impeachment motions filed against them, and if the three prosecutors including the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office are added, the total will be twelve," arguing, "This is clearly reckless overuse and reduces the impeachment system to an unbearably trivial existence." They also noted, "The impeachment of Lee Chang-soo and others will significantly impair the functions of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and, by extension, the prosecution service, and the damage will ultimately be borne by the public."

The Democratic Party plans to report the impeachment motions against Choi Jae-hoon, head of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2, who dismissed the allegations of stock manipulation involving Kim Gun-hee, spouse of President Yoon Suk-yeol, as well as the chain of command including fourth deputy prosecutor Cho Sang-won and head prosecutor Lee Chang-soo, to the plenary session on the 28th.