National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee decides to hold hearing on impeachment of prosecutors

At a general meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on July 31, Jung Chung-rae, chairman of the committee, proceeds with bills amid protests by the PPP lawmakers. Park Min-kyu

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee has decided to hold a hearing on the impeachment of prosecutors led by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on August 14.

The witnesses include First Lady Kim Keon-hee, Jang Si-ho, the nephew of Choi Seo-won (formerly known as Choi Soon-sil), who was involved in the Korean political scandal in 2016, Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, and former Blackpearl Investment CEO Lee Jong-ho.

At its plenary session on July 31, the committee brought in an impeachment bill against Kim Young-chul, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutor's Office, proposed by the DPK, and approved an investigation plan for the impeachment. The ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) refused to participate in voting by show of hands, protesting the opposition's forceful handling of the vote.

The committee selected 20 witnesses for the hearing, including the first lady, Jang, the prosecutor general, and Lee. Lim Eun-jung, a senior prosecutor at the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office, and Kwon Oh-soo, a former chairman of Deutsch Motors, were also included.

The DPK and others allege that Kim Young-chul abandoned his duties and violated his duty of political neutrality by consistently showing leniency when investigating the alleged sponsorship of conglomerates to Covana Contents, Samsung Electronics' alleged set-up of right to lease on a deposit basis of Acrobista, and the low-priced purchase of Deutsch Financial shares.

In addition, the reason for the impeachment was that he demanded false testimony from Jang, a witness, for criminal punishment against Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in the investigation into political scandal, and illegally conducted a separate investigation into the money envelope case of the DPK’s National Convention involving former party leader Song Young-gil and others.

As Deputy Prosecutor Kim's allegations are also linked to President Yoon and his wife, the impeachment hearing is expected to be an extension of the previous hearing on the public consent petition for the impeachment bill of Yoon. Earlier, on July 2, the DPK proposed impeachment bills against Kang Baek-shin, deputy prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, Park Sang-yong, deputy prosecutor of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, and Um Hee-joon, chief of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, respectively.

There are also many criticisms about the push to impeach prosecutors, which is expected to put a burden on the DPK. Yoo Sang-beom, a lawmaker from the PPP and a ruling party secretary at the committee, criticized the opposition parties at the meeting, saying, "The only evidence they attached were four media reports. If they impeach based on media reports alone, they will be able to impeach a lot of people.”

The committee also voted for the “Special Measures Act for the Payment of Support for the Recovery of Public Life” (providing 250,000 won for all citizens) and the “Amendment to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act” (Yellow Envelope Act) during the general meeting, with the opposition voting alone. The DPK plans to introduce and process the two bills at the plenary session on August 1.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.