National Assembly Begins Vote on Impeachment Motion Against Judge Im Seong-geun

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] On the 4th, the National Assembly began voting on the impeachment motion against Lim Seong-geun, Chief Judge of the High Court.

Park Byeong-seok, Speaker of the National Assembly, submitted the impeachment motion against Judge Lim, proposed by 161 lawmakers including Lee Tan-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, to the plenary session in the afternoon and put it to a vote.

Lee, the representative proposer of the impeachment motion, explained the purpose of the motion in his proposal, stating, "The accused used his position as the Chief Criminal Judge with judicial administrative authority to unlawfully intervene in the case of Kato Tatsuya, former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, known as the 'Sewol Ferry 7 Hours' trial."

He continued, "The core of this impeachment is not only to punish the accused but to condemn the unconstitutional act itself. Unpunished acts will inevitably be repeated, and our National Assembly's dereliction of duty has contributed to judicial corruption."

He also urged, "I earnestly appeal that for today, all party members fulfill the constitutional duties entrusted to the National Assembly properly, so that the public can witness this, and approve the motion with overwhelming support."

Members of the People Power Party entered the plenary session holding placards reading "Hasty Impeachment, Judicial Collapse" and "Bogus Impeachment, Judicial Takeover," expressing their opposition. However, since the number of lawmakers who signed the motion already exceeds the required quorum of 151, the impeachment motion against Judge Lim is highly likely to pass.

Judge Lim is accused of unlawful interference in the Sewol Ferry trial held during the Park Geun-hye administration. If this impeachment motion is approved, it will mark the first impeachment of a judge in the history of the National Assembly.

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