<기사제목>Presidential Office: "Geoya's Impeachment Power Abuse"... Expecting Normalization of State Affairs Management (Comprehensive)

Impeachment Proposal After 167 Days... Constitutional Court: "No Serious Constitutional Duty Violation"
Presidential Office: "Anti-Constitutional Behavior Will Face Stern Public Judgment"
Government Operations Gain Momentum... Accelerating Disaster Response System Overhaul with Relevant Ministries

On the 25th, the Presidential Office stated regarding the Constitutional Court's dismissal of the impeachment of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, "The abuse of the impeachment right by the opposition will face the stern judgment of the people." The Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the impeachment trial against Minister Lee on the same day. Minister Lee will immediately return to his duties.

At around 2 p.m. on the same day, the Constitutional Court in the Grand Courtroom in Jongno-gu, Seoul, delivered a unanimous decision by all nine justices to dismiss the impeachment trial against Minister Lee. This came 269 days after the Itaewon tragedy and 167 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against Minister Lee. Earlier, on February 8, the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against Minister Lee, holding him responsible for the inadequate response to the Itaewon tragedy. The Democratic Party of Korea, the Justice Party, and the Basic Income Party participated in the motion.

However, the Constitutional Court judged, "From the perspective of the Constitution and laws, it is difficult to see that the respondent violated the Disaster and Safety Act concerning the establishment and operation of disaster response organizations and the overall coordination and management of disasters, or the National Public Officials Act which stipulates the duty of public officials to act faithfully, or violated the constitutional obligation to protect the basic rights of the people." In particular, "This incident was not caused or expanded by a single cause or specific individual, but rather resulted from the lack of clear regulatory provisions in the Disaster and Safety Act regarding safety management and manuals for festivals without organizers, the failure of government agencies to develop integrated response capabilities for large-scale disasters, and insufficient promotion, education, and guidance on behavioral guidelines during disaster situations. Therefore, from a normative perspective, it is difficult to place responsibility on the respondent," the court stated.

The Presidential Office immediately issued a statement. It said, "The impeachment system is to protect the constitutional order of liberal democracy," and strongly criticized, "The impeachment motion against Minister Lee Sang-min is an abuse of the opposition's impeachment right." It further warned, "Such anti-constitutional behavior will face the stern judgment of the people."

The Presidential Office expects Minister Lee's return to signal the normalization of government administration. During Minister Lee's vacancy, the vice minister acted on his behalf, but there were inevitably limitations in policy decision-making and formulation as the minister overseeing national disaster and safety management. Moreover, the Minister of the Interior and Safety plays a role in the government's network by attending both the Economic Ministers' Meeting and the Social Ministers' Meeting. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also plays a role in all three major reform tasks of the Yoon administration (labor, pension, education). A Presidential Office official said, "Although the vice minister handled the duties, it is true that there were limitations in policy decision-making due to the absence of the minister," adding, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is responsible for coordinating roles among ministries, as well as organization and personnel management, so its normal operation will send a new signal to other ministries."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is also somewhat relieved from responsibility. As a result, criticism that the impeachment was 'excessive' as well as criticism that it caused a vacancy in the 'disaster safety control tower' can be shifted to the opposition. Although the Democratic Party reportedly plans to hold Minister Lee politically accountable to the end even if the impeachment is dismissed, it inevitably faces limitations as it loses justification based on the Constitution and laws. Additionally, there is a possibility that President Yoon's approval ratings, which had faltered amid ongoing diplomatic schedules focused on economic and practical benefits and messages about cartel reform, may rebound. Considering that the aftermath of the 'Itaewon tragedy' had held back approval ratings for several months, the pace of government administration in the second half of the year is expected to accelerate.

However, since the Constitutional Court pointed out that "the respondent is the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which oversees the establishment, overall management, and coordination of disaster and safety policies, and therefore cannot be free from responsibility for social disasters and resulting casualties occurring in everyday and open spaces where the public should be guaranteed safety," a reorganization of the ministry responsible for national disaster and safety management is inevitable. The Presidential Office is also expected to quickly prepare a plan to completely reorganize the disaster response system in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other related ministries.

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