South Korea’s parliament approves impeachment motion against justice minister, police chief

South Korea's National Assembly voted to approve impeachment motions against Justice Minister Park Sung-jae and National Police Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho, following President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to declare martial law last week.

The motions were passed through a secret ballot, revealing that some lawmakers from President Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) may have defied the party’s official stance and supported the impeachment, despite the PPP's formal opposition, Caliber.Az reports citing Korean media.

Of the 295 lawmakers present, the impeachment motion against Park secured 195 votes in favor and 100 against, marking the first time in South Korea’s constitutional history that an impeachment motion targeting a justice minister has been passed.

The motion against Cho also passed with 202 votes in favor, 88 against, one abstention, and four invalid votes, making it the first successful impeachment motion against a national police chief.

As a result, both officials will be suspended from their duties once the National Assembly delivers the impeachment resolutions.

The opposition Democratic Party (DP), which initiated the motions, accused Park of participating in a cabinet meeting directly tied to Yoon’s martial law plan, held just before the president made his televised declaration. The DP labeled this action as an act of treason.

As for Cho, the DP charged him with overstepping his authority by preventing lawmakers from accessing the National Assembly during the martial law period, which they argued infringed upon their constitutional right to request the revocation of martial law and disrupted the legislative process. The DP further accused Cho of participating in a rebellion against the constitutional order.

Although the PPP officially opposed both motions and campaigned against their passage, the results of the secret ballot indicated that some PPP members had voted in favor, revealing divisions within the party. The DP also alleged that, under Park’s leadership, the Ministry of Justice had preemptively arranged detention facilities for individuals expected to be arrested under martial law, further implicating him in the orchestration of unconstitutional activities.

By Vafa Guliyeva