Impeached in December Last Year
George Jo: "If Given the Chance, I Would Have Told Yoon the Martial Law Was a Wrong Decision"
The decision on whether George Jo, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, will be dismissed is set for the 18th. It comes one year after the National Assembly impeached him for his involvement in the December 3 emergency martial law incident last year.
George Jo, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, who was indicted on charges of insurrection related to the December 3 emergency martial law incident, is attending the first trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on March 20, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung
The Constitutional Court announced on the 15th that the verdict in Commissioner Jo's impeachment trial will be delivered at the Grand Chamber at 2 p.m. on the 18th.
Commissioner Jo was impeached by the National Assembly on December 12 last year for blocking lawmakers from entering the National Assembly and deploying police to the National Election Commission and the Election Training Institute during the emergency martial law.
The Constitutional Court held its first preparatory hearing on July 1 and began deliberations on the impeachment trial. After three preparatory hearings and three trial hearings, the decision on his dismissal will be made one year after the impeachment motion. Among high-ranking officials impeached over suspicions related to the emergency martial law, Commissioner Jo's case is the only one yet to receive a verdict.
At the final hearing on the 10th of last month, the National Assembly argued, "The respondent violated constitutional provisions that guarantee the National Assembly's right to request the lifting of martial law, representative democracy, and lawmakers' rights to deliberate and vote by restricting access to the National Assembly during martial law." They also claimed that the deployment of police to the National Election Commission and other agencies "violated or infringed upon the principle of warrant requirement and the independence of the National Election Commission."
In his final statement, Commissioner Jo said, "In an unprecedented situation like that, I believe it would have been nearly impossible to make perfect judgments as we do now." He added, "If I had had even one opportunity to speak to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, I would have said that the emergency martial law was a wrong decision." Regarding the order to arrest lawmakers after the proclamation of martial law, he stated, "I refused because I believed the order to arrest was clearly illegal."
Meanwhile, Commissioner Jo was indicted and detained in January on charges of performing a key role in the insurrection related to the emergency martial law incident. He is accused of participating in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's emergency martial law, blocking the National Assembly, and conducting an illegal search and seizure of the National Election Commission facilities. Suffering from blood cancer, he has been standing trial without detention since the court granted him bail that same month.
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