[News Today] IMPEACHMENT OF BAI CHIEF DISMISSED

[LEAD]
The Constitutional Court has dismissed impeachment motions against Choe Jae-hae, head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. This comes nearly three months after the impeachment proposals were initially filed.

[REPORT]
The Constitutional Court has dismissed a parliamentary motion impeaching Choe Jae-hae, the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection, in a unanimous decision.

The impeachment motion was introduced against Choe over allegations that his agency had conducted a poor review of irregularities surrounding the 2022 relocation of the presidential office and carried out an audit targeting Jeon Hyun-heui, former chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

The Constitutional Court said that the BAI’s inspection of Jeon was legal, despite some procedural flaws. Regarding the presidential office relocation issue, the court ruled that there are no circumstances suggesting that it was a poor review.

With the impeachment dismissed, the chief state auditor returned to his duties immediately.

Choe Jae-hae / Chief, Board of Audit and Inspection
To dispel public concerns, I will run the BAI with a focus on strengthening discipline in the public sector.

The Constitutional Court also rejected the impeachment of three prosecutors, including Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

The Constitutional Court decided that it was not an abuse of discretion for them to have questioned First Lady Kim Keon-hee in a different location.

The court also said it is difficult to accuse the prosecutors of announcing false information on a stock manipulation case involving Kim and Deutsche Motors.

The Constitutional Court has not yet announced the date to deliver a verdict on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The court could possibly choose Friday as the verdict day.

But it is unusual for the court to deliver rulings for two straight days.

Therefore, the overwhelming view is that the verdict on the president’s impeachment will likely be announced next week.