Constitutional Court upholds impeachment of police chief over martial law involvement

Justices of the Constitutional Court are seated to deliver a verdict on the impeachment of police chief Cho Ji-ho at the court in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

The Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld the impeachment of police chief Cho Ji-ho over his involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law.

Cho, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, was removed from office immediately, a year after he was impeached by the National Assembly for allegedly blocking lawmakers from entering the parliamentary compound on Dec. 3, 2024, to vote to lift the decree.

In a unanimous decision, the court said Cho's action was aimed at executing unconstitutional and illegal orders from the then president.

In doing so, the police chief violated the principles of representative democracy and separation of powers, as well as the constitutional right of lawmakers to deliberate and vote, it said.

Cho was also accused by the National Assembly of deploying police officers to the National Election Commission and its affiliated Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy to help implement Yoon's plans under martial law.

The court said the deployment infringed on the independence of the election watchdog.

"These actions by the respondent were in themselves grave violations of the principles of representative democracy and separation of powers, and the negative impact they had on the constitutional order are also severe," the court said. "The respondent's violations of the law were grave enough to justify his dismissal."

Cho was the last person involved in the martial law episode to receive an impeachment ruling from the Constitutional Court.

In April, the court upheld Yoon's impeachment, removing him from office. Former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo were reinstated after their impeachments were dismissed.

Cho continues to stand trial on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection in connection with the martial law attempt.