Bill to Impeach Ignites Partisanship

Tension between the main opposition Grand National Party and the prosecution over the party's move to impeach the nation's two top prosecutors is turning into into a major partisan standoff.

The opposition party on Oct. 13 submitted a bill to the National Assembly to impeach Park Soon-yong, prosecutor-general and Shin Sung-nam, vice prosecutor-general. The opposition party pushed for the impeachment because the prosecution indicted eight opposition lawmakers this year, compared to just six ruling party lawmakers.

Last week, young prosecutors with the Seoul District Prosecutors and the Pusan District Prosecutors Offices gathered to condemn the opposition party's move.

Senior prosecutors, worried about the public sentiment that such group activism may arouse, attempted to calm the young prosecutors. But the senior prosecutors said that they did agree that the impeachment bill was unnecessary.

On Monday, the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office issued a statement, stating that "an impeachment bill that does not fully follow the procedures set out in the Constitution must be rejected."

The opposition party immediately rejected the statement as an affront to parliamentary power.

"It is the inherent right of the National Assembly to impeach anyone responsible for violating the spirit of the Constitution and our laws.

Thus, we take the prosecution's statement as challenging the powers of parliament," Chung Chang-wha, the Grand National Party floor leader, said. Mr. Chung added that the prosecution, by its actions, is eroding political neutrality.

Other lawmakers within the opposition camp also criticized the prosecution's actions.

"The prosecution is threatening our party," Kim Ki-bae, the party's secretary-general, said.

"It is like the prosecution lost its sense of civil service," Mok Yo-sang, the opposition party's policymaker, said.The ruling Millennium Democratic Party, which had watched the duel in silence, spoke out Tuesday.

"We will deal with the opposition party's sweeping offensive against public authority," Rep. Park Byeong-seug, spokesman for the ruling party said.

Mr. Park further charged that the opposition party's attempt at impeachment is strictly political, aimed at gaining the upper hand in the 2002 presidential elections.

by Choi Sang-yeon