Daegum: "Impeachment of Central District Prosecutor General, Majority Party's 'Unfair Pressure'... We Will Not Yield"

President Sim Woo-jung: "Carry out duties steadily to prevent harm to the public"
Request made during weekly report by Lee Chang-soo, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office

The ruling Democratic Party, known as the 'Geoya (巨野)' opposition, and the prosecution are in full confrontation over the unprecedented impeachment of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor. On the 28th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office strongly opposed the Democratic Party's impeachment push, calling it an 'unfair pressure.'

On the same day, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office issued a statement regarding the impeachment of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor and others, stating, "Impeachment lacks justifiable grounds and will cause a significant gap in the prosecution's criminal justice functions directly related to people's livelihoods." It added, "The impeachment system, a grave authority granted to the National Assembly as the people's representative under the mission of upholding the Constitution, must not be abused for the political purposes of the majority party." It further emphasized, "The prosecution will humbly accept reasonable criticism but will not yield to unfair pressure, and all cases will be handled unwaveringly according to law and principles."

Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office criticized the Democratic Party's impeachment of prosecutors for three reasons. It stated, "Constitutionally, impeachment is a last-resort emergency measure supplementarily and exceptionally established to protect the Constitution and is only permitted when there is a serious constitutional or legal violation justifying the dismissal of the subject." It added, "The fact that prosecutors handled cases based on evidence secured through investigations in accordance with relevant laws and procedures cannot be grounds for impeachment. Many scholars, legal professionals, and journalists have expressed serious concerns about the Democratic Party's baseless and repeated impeachment attempts."

Furthermore, it expressed concern that repeated impeachment attempts against prosecutors would seriously undermine the political neutrality of the prosecution. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "If the prosecution's investigation results are unsatisfactory and the command line is impeached, prosecutors may be swayed by external political forces rather than law and principles when investigating cases in the future." It added, "Such impeachment constitutes political interference in judicial decisions and poses a serious threat to the constitutional principle of separation of powers." It continued, "When there are objections to investigation results, appeal and re-appeal procedures are institutionally provided within the criminal justice system. Even though the accuser has already appealed and the appeal process is underway, pushing for impeachment without grounds is an abuse of impeachment authority that undermines the normal criminal justice system."

Lastly, it pointed out that if the prosecution's key leadership is suspended from duty due to impeachment procedures, investigations into livelihood-related cases will be disrupted, ultimately harming the public. Once the National Assembly passes an impeachment motion, the subject's duties are suspended until the Constitutional Court's decision. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, "The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is the largest prosecution office in the country, with over 200 prosecutors serving a jurisdiction of 2 million people, and it handles high-profile cases attracting public attention." It added, "The responsibility of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor, who receives real-time reports on major cases and makes final decisions on investigation directions and prosecutions, is immense." It further stated, "If the duties of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor, the 4th Deputy Chief Prosecutor, and the Head of the Anti-Corruption Division 2 are suspended for a long period, the acting system has limitations in filling the gap, leading to delays in handling numerous livelihood-related cases unrelated to politics, ultimately benefiting criminals and causing harm to the public."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung reportedly urged the Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Chang-soo during a weekly report meeting, "Please carry out your duties unwaveringly so that the public does not suffer due to this impeachment push."

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