DPK to take steps to impeach prosecutor general over nonindictment of first lady

Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung arrives for work at the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seocho District, Seoul, Oct. 17. Yonhap

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Friday it will take steps to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung over the prosecution's decision not to indict first lady Kim Keon Hee over her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme.

"The (DPK) leadership discussed the issue of impeaching the prosecutor general and concluded to go ahead with it," Jo Seoung-lae, a senior DPK spokesperson, told reporters after a Supreme Council meeting. "The steps and timing of the impeachment will be discussed with the floor leadership."

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office announced the nonindictment Thursday, 4 1/2 years after the investigation began into allegations that Kim's stock trading accounts were used in a massive stock price manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors Inc., a BMW dealer, between 2009-2012.

Prosecutors concluded that she did not know her accounts were used for manipulation.

An impeachment motion against a prosecutor can be introduced with support from at least one-third of National Assembly members and passed with majority support.

With the DPK holding 170 out of 300 seats, the impeachment motion against Shim is expected to pass, in what would be the first time parliament has impeached a prosecutor general.

Past impeachment motions against prosecutor generals were either voted down or scrapped.

"Yesterday a death sentence was given to the rule of law in the Republic of Korea," DPK leader Lee Jae-myung said during the Supreme Council meeting, likening the prosecution to security guards who are paid to keep thieves away but instead steal sesame from the barn. "Now the master will take action." (Yonhap)