"If Dismissed, Costs Charged"... Ruling Party Floods Impeachment Abuse Prevention Bills

"We Must Prevent Side Effects from Excessive Impeachment Motions"
Bills Proposed to Limit Suspension of Duties and Improve Impeachment Procedures

The People Power Party is flooding the legislature with bills aimed at preventing the excessive use of impeachment. Although opposition parties such as the Democratic Party recently proposed 30 impeachment motions, including one against Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, they have only resulted in a "9 losses out of 9 attempts" record, causing government vacancies and side effects. The intention is to curb the excessive exercise of impeachment rights.

According to political circles on the 28th, the People Power Party has proposed eight legislative bills related to impeachment this month, including partial amendments to the National Assembly Act and the Constitutional Court Act.

Assembly members Shin Dong-wook and Park Dae-chul each included provisions in their bills allowing the Constitutional Court to claim costs from the respondent if an impeachment is dismissed or rejected. This means that the lawmaker or the political party that proposed the impeachment would bear the costs incurred during the impeachment trial.

Assemblyman Park explained the background of the amendment proposal, saying, "The major opposition party repeatedly abused impeachment motions, but the result was a total defeat with all nine motions dismissed. Even from the perspective of holding accountable for the national and social losses caused by government work vacancies, the costs of dismissed or rejected impeachments should be borne by the relevant party."

According to the People Power Party, since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, the National Assembly has spent 460 million KRW on impeachment trials, including attorney fees for the impeachment prosecution team. They argue that the tangible and intangible damages caused by the suspension of major public officials' duties are even greater.

Assembly member Choi Soo-jin included a mechanism in her proposed bill to prevent administrative vacancies caused by excessive impeachment motions. The bill stipulates that when the National Assembly passes an impeachment motion, the Constitutional Court should partially review its legitimacy before deciding whether to suspend the official's duties. Currently, the official's duties are suspended immediately upon the National Assembly's resolution.

Several other bills aimed at enhancing the procedural legitimacy of Constitutional Court impeachment trials have also been proposed. Assemblyman Eom Tae-young proposed an amendment to the National Assembly Act requiring that when an impeachment motion is proposed, it must go through an investigative process by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee or a special committee, ensuring the accused has an opportunity to present their opinion. Other bills include an amendment to the Constitutional Court Act (led by Assembly member Seo Ji-young) mandating hearings be conducted in the order of receipt, and a bill (led by Assembly member Kim Seung-soo) prohibiting individuals who served as advisors or consultants for a presidential candidate from being appointed as Constitutional Court justices within five years after the election. These bills have been submitted for review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Experts agree on the problem of abuse of impeachment rights but advise caution in institutionalizing measures to prevent it. Professor Jang Young-soo of Korea University Law School said, "Because it could potentially undermine the impeachment system itself, we should keep the possibility of impeachment open while considering ways to limit the suspension of duties."