Democrats Want to Impeach 4 Prosecutors, Including Those Linked to Lee Jae-myung Investigations

Korea’s main opposition party on Tuesday filed an impeachment motion against four prosecutors, several of whom were involved in the investigations into Lee Jae-myung on a range of charges. The Democratic Party has adopted the impeachment as part of its official platform.

Given the lack of any clearly illegal conduct in the four prosecutors’ separate investigations, impeachment is on shaky ground. That has led to criticism that the party is trying primarily to protect Lee, who recently resigned as party chief.

The four prosecutors whose impeachment motion was submitted to the National Assembly on Tuesday are: Kang Baek-shin of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office; Kim Young-cheol of the Seoul North District Prosecutors’ Office; Park Sang-yong of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office; and Uhm Hee-joon, head of the Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office.

Kim Yong-min, a top Democratic Party decision-maker, presented an explanation of the impeachment motion to the National Assembly.

“The prosecution service has committed all kinds of crimes and undermined the foundations of democracy while exercising dual powers of investigation and prosecution. The impeachment motion we are filing today aims to prevent such behavior. We are referring the motion to the Legislative and Judicial Committee under Article 130 of the National Assembly Law and asking the committee to conduct a thorough investigation,” Kim said.

With the ruling People’s Power Party boycotting the session, the Democratic Party voted to refer the impeachment motion to the National Assembly’s Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee.

The impeachment motion could be put to a vote by a full session of the National Assembly between 24 and 72 hours after it is filed, or it could be referred to the Legislative and Judiciary Committee for an investigation before a vote. The latter option has been chosen by the Democratic Party, which apparently wants a full investigation into the various investigations into Lee.

Kang Baek-shin and Uhm Hee-joon, who are among four prosecutors the Democratic Party wants to impeach, led an investigation into alleged corruption in development projects in the Daejang and Baekhyeon districts that Lee was implicated in while working at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.

Park Sang-yong investigated allegations of SBW Group funneling funds to North Korea with the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office. Kim Young-cheol is accused of making an illegal deal with Chang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Soon-sil (now known as Choi Seo-won), during investigations and trials related to former President Park Geun-hye’s influence-peddling scandal.

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok held a news conference on the Democratic Party’s attempts to impeach prosecutors. “Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party seem determined to usurp the role of the judiciary and repeat these trials themselves,” the prosecutor general said.

An official from the president’s office added to the criticism: “Ultimately, the Democratic Party wants to have the investigative power for itself to be able to conduct investigations however it pleases,” they said.

By: Lim Jae-woo, Staff Reporter; Um Ji-won, Staff Reporter; Jeong Hye-min, Staff Reporter

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