Reckless impeachments only destroy democracy

The Democratic Party (DP) has crossed the line again. The majority party on Tuesday submitted a motion to impeach four prosecutors who investigated suspicious cases involving former DP leader Lee Jae-myung or the party. Two of the four prosecutors looked into Lee’s alleged involvement in the two lucrative development projects he approved as Seongnam mayor and the bribe over the city’s football club. The other two prosecutors probed into a private company’s remittance of $8 million to North Korea in return for favors when Lee was Gyeonggi governor and another bribery case involving DP lawmakers ahead of the convention to elect their leader.

The Constitution stipulates that the National Assembly can impeach government officials when they violate the Constitution or laws while carrying out their job. In other words, officials can be impeached only when they committed clear violations of the law. However, exactly what violations the four prosecutors committed is unclear. The DP claims that they are suspected of cajoling suspects over drinks into accepting their crimes or committing subornation of perjury in their trials. But such claims have not been affirmed yet.

If prosecutors are impeached, they are immediately suspended from their job. They cannot do anything until the Constitutional Court delivers a ruling. It can take more than a year for the bench to hand down a judgment. The DP’s rush to impeach prosecutors is nothing but political retaliation for the government’s investigations of the opposition. Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok attributed it to the need for the DP to defend its boss from criminal punishment by obstructing investigations and trials.

The DP plans to summon the four prosecutors to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for questioning sessions. Members of the committee include lawyers who defended Lee in his earlier trials. If this is not a farce, what is? The DP also attempted to impeach Korea Communications Commission Chair Kim Hong-il for making decisions based on only two members of the required five. But the Broadcasting Act does not have any article deeming it a violation of the law. The DP only wants to create a media environment friendly to the opposition.

In February 2023, the DP passed a motion to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min for his responsibility for the Itaewon tragedy, but the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled the impeachment unconstitutional five months later. In September, the DP passed a motion to impeach a prosecutor for “fabricating espionage charges” against a former North Korean defector, but the court dismissed the case. If the DP continues threatening the executive branch in such ways, it’s a brazen assault on the separation of powers.