Justice minister reinstated
The Constitutional Court of Korea on Thursday dismissed the National Assembly's impeachment motion against Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, saying it found no evidence of him aiding former President Yoon Suk Yeol in his martial law imposition.
Park's impeachment was dismissed in an 8-0 decision by the eight-member bench of the Constitutional Court. The verdict came 119 days after the impeachment motion was submitted to the court by the National Assembly.
The court announced there was no evidence or objective material to back the Assembly's accusation that Park aided Yoon's martial law imposition.
It also stated that a gathering that took place at the presidential safe house after martial law was lifted cannot be judged as Park being involved in discussing legal measures and follow-up strategies related to the insurrection.
The National Assembly previously suspended the justice minister for not opposing Yoon's martial law declaration during a Cabinet meeting that was convened on the night of Dec. 3. He was accused of allegedly planning follow-up measures for the martial law decree with former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min at a presidential safe house the following day, including the establishment of detention facilities to hold lawmakers when martial law was declared.
In the first formal hearing of his impeachment trial on March 18, Park denied allegations linking him to the declaration of martial law, claiming he had actually urged the president not to proceed with the imposition. He said the gathering at the safe house was simply a meeting with acquaintances and insisted that martial law-related measures were never discussed.
The Assembly also argued that Park — who oversees the prosecution service — refused its request to submit detailed records on the prosecution's use of special activity funds, asserting that the minister's refusal constituted a violation of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly.
Another charge behind Park's impeachment was his abrupt departure from a parliamentary plenary session in December 2024, during which lawmakers were deliberating a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate multiple scandals involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
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[Editorial] No retaliation in probes
Special counsels should be neutral figures to avoid suspicions of revenge, oppression Three bills mandating special counsel probes into allegations involving the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol were enacted Tuesday following approval at a Cabinet meeting. One of the bills requires special counsels to investigate insurrection and treason charges related to Yoon's failed declaration of martial law. The second bill calls for a probe into allegations against Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee. She allegedly accepted luxury goods as bribes, manipulated stock prices and intervened illegally in the People Power Party's nomination of candidates for the National Assembly. The third bill deals with the death of a Marine who drowned while searching for missing flood victims and the presidential office's alleged pressure on officials investigating his death. The bills mark the first legislation for President Lee Jae-myung since taking office last week. Their passage through the Assembly was led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Simultaneous special counsels investigating three cases against key figures from the previous administration and possibly lawmakers from the People Power Party are unprecedented. In light of the seriousness of the allegations, the truth needs to be uncovered. But the investigations should be impartial and transparent. If not, they are likely to be caught up in suspicions of political retaliation. Investigations of the allegations in question are either completed or ongoing. They were conducted separately by the prosecution, the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. The government and the ruling party say the legislation was intended to increase the efficiency of the investigations by integrating the separate probes and revealing the overall truth in all three cases, but there is concern about the scale of the investigation and how special counsels are appointed. As many as 120 prosecutors will be assigned to three special counsel teams. This figure is more than half of the number of prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the nation's largest. Hundreds of investigation officers and assistants will also join. Allocating so many resources to the special counsel probes could set back investigations into other cases affecting the lives of ordinary people. Among other provisions, the bills give only the Democratic Party and the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, which almost always stands by the now-ruling party, the exclusive right to recommend special counsels in the three cases. It is hard to dispel worries about the political neutrality of their investigations. The appointment of special counsels is a supplementary system designed to keep those in power from pushing biased investigations. It should be used in exceptional circumstances and only as necessary. But the Democratic Party unilaterally passed bills that expand the scope of special counsel probes and grant nominating authority exclusively to certain parties. It is true that suspicions about the previous administration still need to be addressed, and some investigations have been criticized as insufficient. But in a situation where Lee and the Democratic Party are now in power, it is questionable whether special counsels are even necessary to investigate the previous administration instead of using the existing judicial system. It is difficult to erase suspicions of political motivations. The opposition People Power Party has condemned the bills, arguing that the special counsels' "triple investigations" are political revenge. If the investigations were used as a lever of power for political suppression, as the People Power Party worries, it would be a grave threat to democracy. The special counsel investigations should not split the nation into "us versus them," either. People experienced deep division during the Moon Jae-in administration due to its drive to eliminate "the evils of the past," which led to claims of a political vendetta. Lee vowed to base his government on "integration." If so, the special counsel probes should serve as a just means of revealing the truth and ultimately restoring the rule of law, not a means for retaliation and oppression. That begins with appointing special counsels who are politically unbiased and widely respected.
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Speaker says presidents must get Assembly's consent before imposing martial law
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15 hours ago
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Is People Power Party headed for dissolution?
Expert says dissolving party 'would be difficult,' suggests strong reform, rebranding Voices either calling for or expressing concerns over the dissolution of the main conservative People Power Party have grown in recent days. This comes amid a widening rift within the party over the defeat in the June 3 presidential election, coupled with looming threats of being subjected to special counsel investigations targeting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on multiple charges connected to his failed martial law bid. But an expert expressed skepticism over the scenario of a dissolution, saying such cases have been rare. The liberal and ruling Democratic Party of Korea's Rep. Park Hong-geun on Wednesday floated the idea of swiftly passing a bill that he drafted in March that would dissolve the 'party of a president' convicted of impeachment or treason. In March, Park, along with several other Democratic Party lawmakers, drafted a bill to amend the Political Parties Act and allow the Ministry of Justice to review and file a dissolution of the party under such circumstances with the Constitutional Court, without delay. Under the current law, the Constitutional Court alone has the power to dissolve political parties. 'At the time when the bill was drafted, I wasn't focused on (pushing for) the passage of the legislation because I had reasonable expectations that the People Power Party would reflect upon their actions and reform once former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office and the party loses the early election,' Park wrote in a Facebook post. 'With the People Power Party refusing to look back or reform until the end, shouldn't the National Assembly pass the amendment to the Political Parties Act and (the main People Power Party) be dissolved in accordance with the request of (the people) and a legal process?' Park denounced snowballing conflicts within the main conservative party. Interim leader Kim Yong-tae, has called for reform, including changing the months-old party line of voting against Yoon's impeachment motion. The majority of the People Power Party lawmakers boycotted the plenary vote on the party line. Supporters of Yoon within the conservative party, meanwhile, have called for party leadership, including Kim, to step down and take responsibility for the election loss. On the other side of the political sphere, former Daegu Mayor and heavyweight conservative politician Hong Joon-pyo has warned the People Power Party 'to brace for' President Lee Jae-myung's apparent plans to dissolve the party. 'After the Lee Jae-myung administration wraps up the special counsel investigations (against Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee) they are expected to launch a process to dissolve the party, so brace for (a situation) where every man will become himself,' Hong wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. One of the three special counsel probe bills promulgated by Lee on Tuesday is to look into allegations that the People Power Party leadership at the time stood in the way of the Assembly's move to pass a motion to lift Yoon's martial law bid early in the morning of Dec. 4, 2024. Observers have expressed concerns this could serve as grounds for the Constitutional Court to approve the dissolution of the party. However, Park Sang-byeong, a political commentator and professor at Inha University, pointed out that the dissolution of a political party is a process that is 'more complicated than it seems on the surface' and that the court would find the leadership's alleged involvement to be an 'insufficient' argument. "There is expected to be reform or a rebranding of the party, but it would be difficult and insufficient for the Constitutional Court to dissolve the People Power Party on the current reasons cited by the ruling party," the expert said via phone. "A strong reform and rebranding would be a plausible solution for the People Power Party." mkjung@
