PCC Investigation Division 3 Assigned to Choi Sang-mok Case
The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Division (PCC) has launched an investigation into the case in which Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, who withheld the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court Justice candidate, was accused of dereliction of duty.
According to the legal community on the 1st, the PCC's Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan) obtained materials related to the authority dispute trial concerning the withholding of Ma's appointment in the form of voluntary submission at the National Assembly Secretariat on the afternoon of the 31st of last month.
Earlier, civic groups such as the Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice accused Acting Prime Minister Choi of dereliction of duty on the 5th. Deputy Prime Minister Choi was also reported to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the police on the same charge.
On December 31 of last year, while serving as Acting President, Deputy Prime Minister Choi appointed Constitutional Court Justices Jo Han-chang and Jung Gye-seon, who were elected by the National Assembly, but withheld the appointment of candidate Ma Eun-hyuk, citing the lack of bipartisan agreement.
In response, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik filed an authority dispute trial with the Constitutional Court, which on the 27th of last month, unanimously ruled that "not appointing candidate Ma is unconstitutional as it infringes on the composition of the Constitutional Court."
However, even after the Constitutional Court's decision, Deputy Prime Minister Choi did not appoint candidate Ma, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who returned on the 24th after the dismissal of his impeachment, has also not appointed candidate Ma.
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