Geum Tae-seop: "Impeaching Yoon Now? Impossible from the Start... Is This the Right Time?" Criticism

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Geum Tae-seop, former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who recently declared his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election, sharply criticized the impeachment of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "Impeachment now? Please stop this wasteful act and focus on truly important matters."

On the 26th, Geum posted on his SNS a message titled "Impeachment now? How much more do you have to tear the hearts of the people to feel relieved?"

In the post, Geum stated, "Ruling party lawmakers are now stepping forward to push for impeachment," and argued, "Regardless of all other conditions, to impeach a public official, there must be a serious constitutional or legal violation warranting dismissal."

He continued, "After a year of chaos and repeated conflicts, the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary committee imposed a two-month suspension on Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol," adding, "Even if Minister Choo Mi-ae and the Ministry of Justice's claims are all correct, it does not constitute grounds for dismissal."

He further said, "This is tantamount to admitting that impeachment is impossible from the start," and criticized, "Nevertheless, ruling party lawmakers pushing for impeachment now is a shallow tactic to gain points from so-called hardline supporters."

Geum also said, "The people are anxious. The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is soaring past 1,000 daily, and the number of those dying without proper treatment is increasing. Young people are frustrated due to the frozen job market, and many are worried because of the housing crisis," and questioned, "Is this the time to be stubborn?"

Earlier, on the 25th, Kim Doo-kwan, a Democratic Party lawmaker, called the court's decision to suspend the disciplinary action against Prosecutor General Yoon "absurd" and stated, "We will prepare an impeachment motion against Prosecutor General Yoon in the National Assembly."

The impeachment motion against the Prosecutor General mentioned by Kim requires the proposal of at least one-third of the total members of the National Assembly (300 members) and approval by a majority vote in the Assembly. Since the Democratic Party holds a majority sufficient to pass the impeachment motion alone, it can be approved unilaterally; however, the impeachment decision requires the approval of at least six of the nine Constitutional Court justices, including the Chief Justice.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.