Main opposition’s attempt to impeach prosecutors meets negative reaction

By Nam Hyun-woo

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPC) is trying to indict four prosecutors who investigated major political scandals allegedly linked to Rep. Lee Jae-myung, its former chairman. The move is drawing a backlash from lawmakers and ruling party prosecutors who say the DPC is using its majority to shield its boss from legal trouble.

Representative Choo Kyung-ho, leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), told a news conference on Wednesday that the PPP is “destroying the very reason for the existence of the National Assembly just to protect former Chairman Lee.”

“The accused Lee Jae-myung and his confidants threatening to impeach prosecutors in retaliation is a classic case of pot calling the kettle black,” Choo said. “All these actions by DPK are blatant attempts to obstruct justice and (support) Lee’s presidential ambitions.”

A day earlier, the DPK, which holds 175 of the 300 seats in the assembly, unilaterally passed impeachment bills against four prosecutors who were investigating zoning scandals in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, as well as unauthorized money transfers to North Korea by a South Korean company.

Lee, accused of alleged involvement in the cases, has been attending trials since last year. Lee resigned as chairman last month to renew his chairmanship at the party’s national convention in August.

The DPK says the prosecutors “are politically motivated and have committed crimes.” DPK spokesman Rep. Kang Yu-jung told a news conference Wednesday that the prosecutors “misappropriated personal information, engaged in secret deals and intimidated suspects into giving false testimony.”

However, PPP’s Choo said DPK’s accusation “is based solely on DPK’s one-sided claims and there is no objective evidence to support the suspicions.”

Prosecutors are also expressing strong opposition to the DPK’s move. Attorney General Lee One-seok told reporters Tuesday that the impeachment attempt is “equivalent to former Chairman Lee, who is the accused, presiding over his own trial while the DPK and the National Assembly take on the role of the judiciary.”

The country’s law states that a person against whom an impeachment bill is passed in the Assembly is immediately suspended from performing his or her job. The chief prosecutor said: “By suspending the investigation and trial of former Chairman Lee, the DPC is trying to deprive the prosecutor’s office of its judicial function.”

Yonhap News Agency reported that many prosecutors left comments on the prosecutors’ intranet, and Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office, commented: “This kind of abuse of impeachment power should not be repeated.”

A group of former prosecutors also issued a statement condemning the impeachment attempt, saying it “is manifestly without legal basis and constitutes defamation of prosecutors,” adding that it is a gross abuse of lawmakers’ powers.

Once the impeachment bills were passed in plenary, they were delivered to the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The committee chairman will deliver them to the Constitutional Court for a hearing and will have the right to question those facing impeachment during the hearing. The committee is currently headed by DPK representative Jung Chung-rae.