Call for impeachment of top prosecutor faces backlash
By Kang Seung-woo
Rep. Kim Du-kwan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has run into criticism from the opposition bloc and even members of his own party after calling on them to begin impeachment proceedings against Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl.
Rep. Kim Du-kwan of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea / Korea Times file
His call came Friday, one day after the Seoul Administrative Court granted the top prosecutor an injunction against a two-month suspension from duty concocted by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae amid a feud over prosecution reform and politically sensitive investigations.
The court decision subsequently led to President Moon Jae-in issuing an apology for causing inconvenience and confusion over the disciplinary action against Yoon.
On Friday, the two-term lawmaker and former interior minister said he would launch the impeachment process, denouncing the court decision as a “judicial coup.”
“The court made a ridiculous ruling. It is nothing but a coup d'etat that suspended the authority of the President elected by the people. Without reforming the prosecution, there is no guarantee that Korea will see its democracy evolve and the President's power ensured,” Kim wrote on Facebook.
“We should take all possible measures to normalize politics, controlled by the prosecution and courts, through the Assembly,” Kim wrote on Facebook.
In response, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) accused Kim of dividing the people.
“We have to question whether his act of splitting the nation is truly for prosecutorial reform,” PPP spokesman Kim Ye-ryeong said.
Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, another PPP lawmaker, said Kim's move was more politically calculated.
“Although Kim is referred to as one of the presidential hopefuls of the DPK, he is currently a non-factor in the conversation for leading candidates. In that respect, I understand his intention to win support from President Moon's supporters,” he said.
Fellow DPK members voiced criticism of Kim's impeachment call.
“It is not the best tactic,” Lee Seok-hyun, a former six-term lawmaker and ex-deputy Assembly speaker, said on Facebook.
“Even if the parliament passes the impeachment motion, it would be stopped by the Constitutional Court, given that the disciplinary committee's decision to suspend Yoon from duty for two months, not dismiss him, would be a stumbling block in the impeachment effort.”
Rep. Huh Young, a DPK spokesman, also called on the party to avoid emotional responses.
“The Constitutional Court is highly likely to reject the motion due to the absence of legal cause and it may give the opposition's side ammunition to counterattack us,” he said on Facebook.
According to the Constitution, a motion for impeachment against high-ranking government officials other than the President can be proposed when at least one third of the total 300 members of the Assembly agree to it. Such a motion can be passed when more than half of the total members vote for it.
Under the law governing Assembly operations, a vote must be held between 24 and 72 hours after the impeachment bill is presented at a plenary session.
Currently, the DPK holds 174 seats in the 300-strong Assembly.