Constitutional Court to Deliver Ruling on Impeachment Trial of Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae on the 10th at 2 PM

by Lee Seohee

Published 07 Apr.2025 16:54(KST)

Constitutional Court to Rule on Impeachment of Minister Park Seong-jae After 119 Days

The Constitutional Court will deliver its ruling on the impeachment trial of Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae at 2 p.m. on the 10th. This comes 119 days after the National Assembly's impeachment motion.

On the morning of the 4th, the day of the impeachment trial verdict for President Yoon Suk-yeol, police forces are controlling access at the main gate of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Constitutional Court has set the ruling date and notified both the National Assembly and Minister Park's legal representatives.

If the Constitutional Court upholds the National Assembly's impeachment motion, Minister Park will be dismissed. Conversely, if the motion is dismissed or rejected, he will immediately return to his duties. This ruling is expected to be the last for Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyeong-bae, who retires on the 18th, and Justice Lee Mi-seon.

Minister Park was impeached by the National Assembly on December 12 last year for attending a Cabinet meeting on December 3 without opposing former President Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of martial law and for discussing follow-up measures to martial law with former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and others at a safe house in Samcheong-dong the next day.

The National Assembly also cited allegations that Minister Park ordered the establishment of detention facilities at the Eastern Seoul Detention Center during martial law, refused to submit details of the prosecution's special activity expenses requested by the National Assembly, and left the plenary session early during the re-vote on the so-called 'Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act' as grounds for impeachment.

Minister Park's side maintains that he actively dissuaded the president from declaring martial law at the Cabinet meeting and that the gathering at the Samcheong-dong safe house was merely a meeting of acquaintances, not a discussion of follow-up measures to martial law.

Furthermore, they argue that he never ordered the establishment of detention facilities at the Eastern Seoul Detention Center, that there were legitimate reasons for refusing the National Assembly's request for document submission, and that there was no obligation to remain present until the National Assembly plenary session's voting results were announced.

The Constitutional Court concluded the proceedings with the first hearing on the 18th of last month and has been deliberating the case in judges' conferences. Earlier, on the 4th, the Constitutional Court recognized significant legal and constitutional violations in the declaration and maintenance of martial law on December 3 and dismissed former President Yoon.