Seoul [South Korea], December 5 : South Korea's opposition-controlled National Assembly on Thursday passed impeachment motions against the Chief State Auditor and three top prosecutors over their roles in investigations related to the relocation of the presidential office and first lady Kim Keon Hee, South Korean News Agency, Yonhap reported.
The impeachment motions were against Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) Chairperson Choe Jae-hae; Lee Chang-soo, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office; and Cho Sang-won and Choi Jae-hun, both prosecutors under Lee, as per Yonhap.
As the motion was agreed upon by the Assembly, the four will now be suspended from their duties until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to uphold their impeachment, Yonhap said. It is the first time a BAI chief has been impeached by parliament.
The motions passed 188-4 against Choe, 185-3 against Lee, 187-4 against Cho and 186-4 against Choi. Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote, as per Yonhap reported.
Yonhap reported the Assembly opposition accused Choe of not conducting a proper review of alleged irregularities during the 2022 relocation of the presidential office, which took place in line with a campaign pledge of South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol. The three prosecutors are accused of failing to indict Kim following an investigation into her alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme.
The impeachment motions were originally scheduled to be put to a vote Wednesday, but the proceeding was postponed in the wake of Yoon's short-lived declaration of martial law. The main opposition Democratic Party said it would give precedence to the impeachment motion against Yoon over his martial law decree than impeachment of the state auditor and the prosecutors but reversed its stance on Thursday after the PPP adopted opposing Yoon's impeachment as its official party line, Yonhap reported.
South Korea is reeling from a dramatic night of political turmoil, marked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed bid to impose martial law. The move has severely jeopardized Yoon's presidency, sparking widespread outrage and intensifying calls for his impeachment, CNN reported.
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