Parties clash over opposition's 'abuse' of impeachment process

Rival parties clashed over allegations that the main opposition party abused its impeachment powers following the Constitutional Court's ruling Thursday that overturned opposition-led motions to impeach a state auditor chief and three prosecutors.

The ruling bloc hailed the court's decisions, claiming they were proof that the opposition-led parliament had abused its political power through a series of impeachments against innocent officials. The main opposition party, however, denied claims that it had abused the parliament's impeachment powers.

"The historic ruling struck down the Democratic Party's politically motivated impeachment abuse," ruling People Power Party interim leader Rep. Kwon Young-se told reporters at a press conference at the National Assembly after the ruling.

This followed the Constitutional Court's unanimous 8-0 decision to overturn motions by parliament to impeach Choe Jae-hae, chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and three senior prosecutors, including Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

Kwon also described the impeachment motions as "attempts to stubbornly push ahead (with impeachment) based on the interests of the majority power rather than the Constitution and law."

"Impeachments should not be abused for the sake of political interests, although the Constitution provides the grounds for impeachments and people endowed the impeachment power (to the National Assembly)," he added.

The presidential office also said in a note to reporters that the court's decision "rings the alarm on the opposition party's impeachment abuses."

Yoon's legal team, which represents the suspended president in both his criminal and impeachment trials, also noted that Thursday's rulings affirmed that the opposition party had sought to destroy constitutional order through legislative abuse, adding that the impeachment motion against Yoon should be struck down as well.

The parliament's impeachment motion against state audit chief Choe "led to Yoon's emergency martial law declaration" last December to shed light on the existence of anti-state forces, claimed Yoon's legal team.

However, the Democratic Party of Korea, which holds 170 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly, denied allegations that it abused its power, while blaming Yoon for the ongoing political uncertainties.

Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said Thursday that the court had dismissed claims of impeachment abuse by the opposition-led parliament. This was in line with the court’s rulings on the three prosecutors, which produced no evidence that the parliament had overstepped its impeachment authority.

All motions to impeach the four figures passed the parliament's plenary session on Dec. 5. The motion to impeach state auditor Choe passed in a vote of 188-4, while the motions to impeach the three prosecutors passed with 185 votes out of 192 lawmakers present.

Choe was accused of deliberately targeting Yoon's political opponent in a state audit. Lee and the two prosecutors — Cho Sang-won and Choi Jae-hun, both senior prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — were accused of giving first lady Kim Keon Hee preferential treatment by failing to indict her for alleged stock manipulation.

All 108 ruling party lawmakers boycotted the voting sessions in a show of protest against the opposition party's "irresponsible" moves.

Since Yoon's inauguration in May 2022, the opposition-led National Assembly has impeached 29 public officials. This has drawn backlash from the ruling bloc, which claims the opposition party has been attempting to paralyze the government.

The Constitutional Court has issued rulings for eight of the 29 impeachments. So far, none of the impeachments have been upheld.

Two days before the opposition-led impeachment, Yoon, in an address to the nation on Dec. 12 argued that the opposition parties were employing "bulletproof impeachments" to cover up their own corruption.

Opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung recently admitted that the opposition-led parliament's series of impeachments was not its best option but said he could not turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of people around Yoon.

"It's true there are many (impeachment motions we pushed ahead), but do you believe we were happy about it?" Lee told an interview with Channel A on Wednesday, when asked to explain his stance on the abuse claims. "I don't think we are completely innocent."

He also said, "(The Democratic Party) might be to blame for overly exercising our authority while abiding by the constitutional order, but we did not commit any violation of law or the Constitution."