DP faces backlash after multiple impeachment failures

Mar 14, 2025, 10:20 am

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The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed the National Assembly's impeachment motion against Choi Jae-hae, the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection (left), and Lee Chang-soo, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. On the same day, Choi Jae-hae and Lee Chang-soo made statements as they arrived at the Board of Audit and Inspection in Seoul and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, respectively. / Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Kim Chae-yeon

The Constitutional Court has consecutively rejected the impeachment motions filed by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) against high-ranking officials.

The court on Thursday unanimously dismissed the impeachment motions against Choi Jae-hae, the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, Lee Chang-soo, the chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and prosecutors Cho Sang-won and Choi Jae-hoon. This has led to criticism that the opposition party has abused its legislative power to paralyze state affairs.

With the dismissal of the impeachment motions, Choi and the three prosecutors returned to their duties 98 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motions on December 5 last year.

The DP had passed the impeachment motion against Choi, citing inadequate audits related to the relocation of the presidential office and residence, and targeted audits against former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee. However, the Constitutional Court ruled that these allegations did not constitute grounds for impeachment. While the court acknowledged some illegalities in Choi's actions, such as amending regulations and refusing to disclose meeting records, it concluded that these did not warrant dismissal.

Regarding the three prosecutors who were impeached for allegedly mishandling the investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee's involvement in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, the court also concluded that their actions did not violate the Constitution or laws in a manner that would justify impeachment.

Since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the opposition-led National Assembly has filed 29 impeachment motions, starting with then-Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min in February 2023 and including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in December last year. Excluding duplicate individuals, impeachment motions were filed against 23 public officials. Of these, 13 motions were passed by the National Assembly, resulting in the suspension of duties, but 8 of these were dismissed by the Constitutional Court, with no cases being upheld.

The opposition party's strategy of pushing through multiple impeachment motions with its majority in the National Assembly has faced strong public criticism, as none of the motions have been successful. A lawyer in Seocho-dong commented that the unanimous dismissal of the impeachment motions by the Constitutional Court sends a clear message against the opposition party's excessive use of impeachment. He added that the unnecessary impeachment motions have wasted over 400 million won of taxpayer money and that the criticism of the opposition party's actions will continue to grow.

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