The Constitutional Court concluded the impeachment trial of Vice Administrator Sohn Jun-sung, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutor's Office, after holding two hearings on the matter on the 20th. The date for the ruling will be decided and announced later.
On this day, the Constitutional Court held the second hearing in the impeachment trial of Chief Prosecutor Sohn. This came 536 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion led by the Democratic Party of Korea on Dec. 1, 2023.
Acting Chief Justice Kim Hyung-doo noted after the hearing, "I will notify both parties of the ruling date after sufficient review."
Earlier, Chief Prosecutor Sohn was impeached over the so-called 'complaint request' case, but he was acquitted in a related criminal case. The 'complaint request' incident involves allegations that former President Yoon Seok-youl, during his tenure as Prosecutor General in 2020 before the general elections, requested the People Power Party to file complaints against Yoo Si-min and former Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook, claiming defamation against himself and his wife.
Chief Prosecutor Sohn was indicted in May 2022 on charges of giving complaint documents against figures in the ruling camp to Kim Woong, a former lawmaker and candidate for the Future Integration Party. He was sentenced to one year in prison in the first trial, but his conviction was overturned in the second trial, and his acquittal was confirmed by the Supreme Court on the 24th of last month, leading to the resumption of the impeachment trial proceedings.
Although Chief Prosecutor Sohn did not appear at the hearing on this day, during the first hearing on the 13th, he stated, "I fought hard to prove my innocence in the criminal trial and was acquitted," and requested, "Please reach a wise conclusion."
Chief Prosecutor Sohn's attorney stated in the final argument that "the impeachment trial claim must be dismissed to alert the National Assembly against the political misuse of impeachment motions."
On the other hand, the National Assembly argued, "Although an acquittal was announced in the criminal case, the court recognized that Chief Prosecutor Sohn was involved in the preparation of the complaint materials," adding, "If we do not receive answers through the impeachment trial for such constitutional or legal violations, there will be no way to control future legal violations by the prosecution."