[Law & Story] Reflecting on the Eighth Dismissal of an Impeachment Petition

29 Impeachment Motions Filed in Two Years Under Yoon Administration
No Grounds Recognized for Prosecutor Impeachment
Institutional Reforms Needed, Including Introduction of Preliminary Review System

Seokjin Choi, Law & Biz Specialist

The Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the impeachment petitions against Choi Jaehae, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, Lee Changsoo, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and one other prosecutor on March 13. This marks the eighth dismissal under the current administration.

Since February 2023, when the Democratic Party of Korea began with former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sangmin, and up to Acting President Han Ducksoo in December last year, the party has proposed a total of 29 impeachment motions against 23 public officials within just two years.

This means that more impeachment motions have been proposed in this short period than the 21 motions submitted over the 74 years since the establishment of the government through the previous administration. Of these, 13 were passed by the National Assembly, but of the eight cases decided by the Constitutional Court, not a single one was upheld.

The Democratic Party cited four main reasons-broken down into 16 specific points-for the impeachment petition against Chairman Choi. However, the Constitutional Court recognized illegality in only two actions: allowing the implementation of audit reports without review by the presiding member, and refusing to allow perusal of the minutes during an on-site inspection by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

However, the court determined that these were not serious violations of the law. For the three prosecutors, the Democratic Party raised three main, and more than ten specific, grounds for impeachment, but none were accepted. Even the justices recommended by the Democratic Party agreed with the decision.

As the impeachment petitions were hastily assembled, several absurd situations occurred. For example, it was claimed that Chief Prosecutor Lee attended a press conference announcing an investigation, even though he did not; and when the Constitutional Court pointed out that there were only grounds for impeachment but no supporting evidence, the petitioners even requested the court to secure evidence on their behalf.

In a previous incident, the second impeachment motion against former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dongkwan copied content from the prosecutor impeachment motion, which was later explained as a "mistake." I am aware that the Democratic Party has several lawmakers with legal qualifications, including party leader Lee Jaemyung, so it is hard to believe that such impeachment motions could have been submitted in this manner.

The impeachment system is intended as a last resort to remove high-ranking officials from office for violations of the Constitution or the law. We already learned 21 years ago from the impeachment petition against the late former President Roh Moo-hyun that a violation of the Constitution or the law does not automatically result in removal from office.

Given this, I believe that the Democratic Party’s impeachment motions were pursued with a certain intention, fully aware that they would not be upheld. Many people already suspect what that intention is. If the law is misused for political purposes, that "politics" cannot move in a desirable direction either.

The Democratic Party should express regret for the impeachment motions that have been dismissed by the Constitutional Court. This is a completely separate matter from the outcome of President Yoon Sukyeol’s impeachment case, and an apology from the Democratic Party does not mean President Yoon will be in a more favorable position in his own impeachment proceedings.

I believe that the Democratic Party’s apology should be directed not at President Yoon, but at the people. After all, it is the people who have suffered most from these reckless impeachments. The victims of judicial and administrative disruption are the people, and the costs paid with taxes have also come from the people’s pockets.

I also have some regrets about the Constitutional Court. It took as many as 98 days to reach a conclusion on the impeachment of officials such as the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office-positions where even a single day of vacancy can disrupt the work of major state institutions. More fundamentally, institutional improvements are needed, such as introducing a preliminary review system for petition requirements, similar to the one used for constitutional complaints.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.