Impeachment Trial Pleadings for Police Commissioner George Ho Conclude After 11 Months

Constitutional Court to Announce Verdict Date Later
National Assembly: "Assembly's Authority Was Infringed During Martial Law"
Commissioner Ho: "Difficult to Judge as Clearly Unconstitutional"

The Constitutional Court concluded the impeachment trial pleadings for George Ho, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, on November 10. This comes 11 months after he was impeached in December last year for his involvement in the December 3 Martial Law.

Kim Sanghwan, President of the Constitutional Court, stated during the third hearing of Commissioner Ho's impeachment trial held at the Grand Bench of the Constitutional Court in the afternoon, "Based on the arguments presented by both sides and the evidence submitted, we will carefully review the facts and legal principles before making a decision. The pleadings are now concluded, and the date for the verdict will be set and announced at a later time."

Police Chief Jo Jiho is attending the first hearing of the impeachment trial held on September 9 at the Grand Bench of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Hwang Heeseok, attorney representing the National Assembly, argued in his closing statement, "The respondent violated constitutional provisions by restricting access to the National Assembly during martial law, thereby infringing on the Assembly's authority to demand the lifting of martial law, the principles of representative democracy, and lawmakers' rights to deliberate and vote." He further claimed that by deploying police forces to the National Election Commission and other agencies, the respondent "violated or infringed upon the principle of warrant-based action and the independence of the Election Commission."

No Jeonghwan, attorney representing Commissioner Ho, countered, "Although the respondent held a high-ranking position, he was merely an administrator, not a legal expert. Expecting him to clearly judge the proclamation of martial law as unconstitutional is excessively harsh and constitutes a clear case of hindsight bias."

He added, "While the respondent recognized that the martial law decision was unjust, he did not judge it to be clearly unconstitutional. Therefore, he outwardly complied with orders, but in practice, he managed police personnel in a way that allowed for passive resistance as a last resort."

In his final statement, Commissioner Ho said, "In such an unprecedented situation, it would have been nearly impossible to make perfect judgments as we do now." He added, "However, if I had even a single opportunity to speak to former President Yoon Suk-yeol, I would have told him that the declaration of martial law was a mistaken decision."

Commissioner Ho was impeached by the National Assembly on December 12 last year. This is the first time a Commissioner of the National Police Agency has been suspended from duty due to impeachment. The National Assembly claims that, in relation to the reasons for impeachment-including restricting access to the National Assembly by police, deploying police to the National Election Commission and its training institute, and excessive suppression at the National Workers' Rally-Commissioner Ho violated the constitutional principles of representative democracy and separation of powers, as well as lawmakers' rights to deliberate and vote and their immunity from arrest.

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