South Korea's Constitutional Court unanimously rejects impeachment of three prosecutors

South Korea's Constitutional Court has upheld the dismissal of Lee Chang-soo, whose impeachment was sought by the National Assembly for his sloppy investigation into the alleged manipulation of German Motors stock prices involving President Yoon's wife, Kim Gun-Hee.
The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the impeachment indictment against Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Chief Lee Chang-soo, 4th Deputy Prosecutor Cho Sang-won, and 2nd Anti-Corruption Bureau Chief Choi Jae-hoon. The ruling was handed down on the 13th and takes immediate effect.
The ruling came 98 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment bill on December 5 last year, and they were reinstated to their posts.
The Constitutional Court questioned whether the prosecution conducted an appropriate investigation into Kim.
In particular, the prosecution's investigation of Kim at a third location included the following security reasons: "It is not possible to summon and question the spouse of a sitting president for security reasons."
"There are difficulties in doing so, and considering past precedents, the interrogation at the building attached to the Presidential Security Office does not amount to an undue convenience," the statement said.
Regarding the fact that Chief Prosecutor Lee did not convene an investigation review committee, the hearing through the review committee is an optional procedure.
However, the Constitutional Court pointed out that a securities account in Kim's name had been used for the crime of manipulating stock prices during the investigation and concluded that "Kim Kim
Although evidence needed to be collected to confirm whether Mr. Ki had the intention of being an accomplice and whether Mr. Kim was aware of the main culprit's manipulation of stock prices, it is unclear whether an appropriate investigation was conducted.
"Since the defendants became involved in the investigation a considerable amount of time after the stock price manipulation incident occurred, further investigations will not produce any significant evidence," he said.
The National Assembly also stated that they had requested a seizure warrant for Kim at press conferences and parliamentary audits, but that the request was rejected by the court.
The Constitutional Court also took issue with the dissemination of the information. In response, the court said, "During the lengthy question-and-answer session, Choi Jae-hoon repeatedly referred to the German Motors stock price manipulation case and the bribery allegations in the sponsorship of Cobana Contents.
"There is a possibility that the somewhat ambiguous remarks made during the National Assembly audit may have caused confusion," the report said.
The National Assembly decided that it would be difficult to impeach the three prosecutors, including District Prosecutor General Lee, for their sloppy investigation into the matter in which they decided not to indict Kim on suspicion of manipulating German Motors stock prices.
They were discussing.