Im Seong-geun Impeachment Bill Passed by National Assembly... 'First Judge Impeachment in Constitutional History' (Summary)

[Asia Economy Reporters Naju-seok, Jeon Jin-young, Park Joon-yi] For the first time in constitutional history, a motion to impeach a judge was passed in the National Assembly.

On the afternoon of the 4th, Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byeong-seok announced the passage of the impeachment motion against Im Seong-geun, Chief Judge of the Busan High Court, with 179 votes in favor, 102 against, 3 abstentions, and 4 invalid votes out of 288 members present at the plenary session. Judge Im is accused of illegal interference in the Sewol ferry trial held during the Park Geun-hye administration.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The People Power Party, which had expressed a negative stance on Judge Im’s impeachment, entered the session holding hand placards reading “Hasty Impeachment Judicial Collapse” and “Shoddy Impeachment Judicial Takeover,” and voiced opposition during procedural speeches. However, when Speaker Park finally declared the motion passed, they shouted slogans such as “Impeach the liar Kim Myung-soo” and exited the chamber. Earlier, the number of lawmakers who signed the impeachment motion was 161, exceeding the required quorum of 151, making the passage expected.

Lee Tan-hee, a Democratic Party lawmaker who was the chief proposer of the impeachment motion, explained the purpose of the motion during the proposal, stating, “The accused used his position as the Chief Criminal Judge with judicial administrative authority to illegally intervene in the case of Kato Tatsuya, former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, known as the ‘Sewol Ferry 7 Hours’ trial.”

He added, “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 then urged, “For today, I earnestly appeal that lawmakers from all parties fulfill the constitutional duties entrusted to the National Assembly properly, so that the public can witness this, by overwhelmingly approving the motion.”

Immediately after the passage of the impeachment motion, the People Power Party issued a statement saying, “We have seen the true face of mob politics.” Bae Jun-young, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said, “This is purely a showpiece-style disciplinary impeachment. Lawmakers from the ruling party threw themselves into the quagmire of impeachment under the instigation of Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee, who did not even know that the judge subject to impeachment would finish his term in February.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Spokesperson Bae said, “Article 65 of the Constitution regulates the subjects, procedures, and effects of impeachment. According to Article 130, Paragraph 1 of the National Assembly Act rooted in the Constitution, when an impeachment motion is proposed, the Speaker must report it at the first plenary session convened after the proposal, and the plenary session may refer it to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for investigation by resolution.” He added, “The Democratic Party and its allies disregarded even this legal procedure by force of majority and pushed through the impeachment recklessly.”

In fact, before the vote, there were voices calling for the referral of the impeachment motion to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee according to Article 130 of the National Assembly Act, but this was not accepted through the vote.

People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye requested the referral of the impeachment motion to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, stating, “If the National Assembly hastily processes the judge’s impeachment motion without investigation into the impeachment case, this will be a clear political impeachment and will remain the worst precedent in history.” She earnestly asked, “Please agree to refer the motion to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee so that a thorough investigation and discussion on the impeachment motion against Chief Judge Im can be conducted.”

The impeachment motion is scheduled to be submitted to the Constitutional Court later that afternoon by Democratic Party lawmakers Park Ju-min and Lee Tan-hee. The final decision on the submitted impeachment motion will be made by the Constitutional Court.

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