Constitutional Court Dismisses Impeachment Motion Against Prosecutor Sohn Junsung in "Prosecution-Induced Complaint" Case

Seven Constitutional Court Justices Unanimously Agree
"Violated Political Neutrality, but Not Grounds for Removal"

The Constitutional Court has dismissed the National Assembly's impeachment motion against Sohn Junsung, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor), who was under suspicion in the so-called "Prosecution-Induced Complaint" case. This decision comes one year and seven months after the impeachment bill was submitted to the Constitutional Court in December 2023.

Sohn Junsung, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Daegu High Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor). Yonhap News

On July 17 at 2:00 p.m., the Constitutional Court held the sentencing hearing for Sohn and dismissed the impeachment by unanimous decision of all seven justices. Sohn will immediately return to his official duties.

The Constitutional Court stated, "By delivering the first and second complaint documents, which could be circulated, with the intent to influence the National Assembly election by accusing politicians from the then-ruling bloc, Sohn can be considered to have sufficiently violated the duty of political neutrality." The Court thus determined that Sohn had violated the Constitution and the law.

However, the Court explained, "The negative impact or harm caused by the legal violations on the constitutional order is not so severe as to warrant the deprivation of the public trust indirectly conferred upon the respondent. Therefore, there is no justification for removing the respondent from office."

Additionally, considering that Sohn was acquitted in the related criminal trial because it was not proven that he sent the complaints to former lawmaker Kim Woong, the Court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that the respondent's actions, in themselves, caused significant negative impact or harm to the constitutional order."

Sohn was referred to the Constitutional Court for impeachment on the grounds that, as the Director of the Investigation Information Policy Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in April 2020, just before the 21st general election, he exchanged images of complaints and real-name verdicts concerning figures from the then-ruling bloc with Kim Woong, who was a candidate for the United Future Party, via the Telegram messenger app.

The Constitutional Court had suspended the impeachment proceedings, taking into account that Sohn was facing a criminal trial on the same charges, but resumed the process in April. In the first trial related to the Prosecution-Induced Complaint case, some charges were found guilty and Sohn was sentenced to one year in prison. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal, as the appellate court found that it was not proven that Sohn had sent the complaints and verdicts to Kim. On April 24, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), thereby finalizing the acquittal.

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