Constitutional court removes police chief Cho Ji-ho

Dec 19, 2025, 08:46 am

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Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency. / Source: Yonhap News

The Constitutional Court on December 18 unanimously ordered the dismissal of Cho Ji-ho, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, ruling that he abandoned his constitutional duty by mobilizing police forces in support of an unconstitutional declaration of martial law.

In a 9–0 decision, the court upheld the National Assembly’s impeachment motion and removed Cho from office, 371 days after he was impeached on December 12 last year and suspended from his duties. It marked the first impeachment of a police commissioner general in South Korea’s constitutional history and the first removal of a senior official over the martial law case aside from former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The court concluded that Cho violated the constitution by deploying police to block the National Assembly, thereby interfering with lawmakers’ exercise of their constitutional powers, including the right to demand the lifting of martial law.

“The attempt to seal off the National Assembly was aimed at actively obstructing the exercise of the Assembly’s authority,” the court said, adding that the actions were carried out to execute the president’s unconstitutional and unlawful orders. Such conduct, it said, violated the principles of representative democracy and separation of powers and infringed upon lawmakers’ rights to deliberate and vote.

The justices ruled that Cho’s actions amounted to a de facto abandonment of the constitutional mission and responsibilities entrusted to the police commissioner general, stating that they could not be justified or tolerated under any circumstances.

The court also found that deploying police forces to the National Election Commission to control access unlawfully supported military forces that entered the commission, thereby obstructing its duties and infringing on its independence.

Cho’s defense argued that he had contributed to the eventual lifting of martial law by refusing orders to arrest lawmakers and by effectively allowing lawmakers to scale the National Assembly walls, citing what it described as three instances of “insubordination.” The court rejected the argument, finding it insufficient to offset the gravity of his constitutional violations.

#Constitutional Court #Cho Ji-ho #Korean National Police Agency #impeachment #martial law