People Power Party Floor Leader Song Eon-seok said Wednesday that if allegations prove true that a key presidential confidant personally intervened to drop criminal charges against President Lee Jae-myung, it would constitute grounds for impeachment.
"This is a matter serious enough to warrant impeachment if the allegations of backroom dealing—where a core member of the president's inner circle directly moved to cancel prosecutions to erase President Lee's trials—are proven true," Song said at a party policy meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.
"What's important is that, before even addressing the backroom deal allegations, there were statements made on the premise that a senior Lee administration official pressured prosecutors to drop charges," Song said. "The external pressure to cancel prosecutions itself is a far more serious matter than the backroom deal allegations."
Song noted that Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho appeared flustered when questioned about the matter, responding evasively that he had told prosecutors they "should reflect on past wrongdoings and change."
"This is a self-confession of coercive remarks similar in context to when he said to 'judge carefully' regarding the decision to abandon the appeal in the Daejang-dong case," Song said.
"Following the previous pressure to abandon the Daejang-dong appeal, this latest pressure to cancel prosecutions is clearly an abuse of authority where a sitting minister exceeded the scope of his duties," Song added. "This is why an impeachment motion against Minister Jeong is necessary."
Song also sharply criticized the three judicial reform bills—covering judicial distortion crimes, constitutional appeals on trials, and expansion of Supreme Court justices—which took effect the previous day.
"The moment these three evil laws destroying the judiciary took effect, the paralysis of the judicial system from floods of criminal complaints and constitutional appeals became reality at highway speed," he said.
Song pointed to Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Moon-seok, who lost his seat after being convicted of loan fraud. "As soon as he lost his position over loan fraud that drew public outrage, he shamelessly announced he would file a constitutional appeal," Song said. "The very day these bills were railroaded through under the banner of judicial reform, they have devolved into a torture-by-hope law giving hope to mere loan fraudsters."
Song noted that Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae has become the first target of a criminal complaint under the new judicial distortion law, reportedly over his ruling to remand President Lee's election law violation case to a lower court.
"However, this complaint concerns a ruling issued before the law took effect, making it clearly retroactive application, and investigation itself is impossible," Song said. "Nevertheless, for the police or the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials to investigate Chief Justice Cho while watching the administration's mood is absurd and nonsensical."
"If investigating Chief Justice Cho is possible, the public should know that voices are being raised calling for complaints under the judicial distortion law to first be filed against presiding judges Choi Eun-jeong, Lee Ye-seul, and Jeong Jae-ho, who issued a second-instance acquittal through intentional legal distortion to clear the path for President Lee's presidential campaign," Song added.
