South Korea’s Democratic Party (DPK) is ramping up pressure to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung. While the party leadership will decide when to submit the motion, it could happen anytime. If the DPK moves forward, this will be the 30th impeachment attempt under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration—more than the total 21 impeachment motions in South Korea’s history since 1948. This could be a world record.
Of these impeachment attempts, 13 have been pushed through unilaterally in the National Assembly. The acting president and the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection were impeached, and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min faced impeachment twice—something never seen before. Acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached despite uncertainty over the quorum, with accusations of insurrection, even though he opposed martial law. The DPK likely saw him as an obstacle to its plan for an early presidential election to benefit its leader, Lee Jae-myung.
The DPK also pressured Acting President Choi Sang-mok to appoint a Constitutional Court judge, repeatedly threatening impeachment. Other cabinet members have faced similar warnings. The party has used impeachment as a weapon, even during emergencies. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) was paralyzed for 174 days due to back-to-back impeachment motions against its chairman and commissioners.
Impeachment should be based on serious constitutional or legal violations, but many DPK motions lack clear legal grounds. The motion against former KCC Chairman Lee Dong-kwan contained no specific legal violations and was mostly copied from past prosecutor impeachment motions. KCC Commissioner Lee Jin-sook was impeached just two days after taking office, before she could even start her duties.
Prosecutors investigating Lee Jae-myung were impeached based on rumors, one-sided claims, or cases already dismissed. This was an open attempt to block investigations. When a claim that a prosecutor had lied turned out to be false, the DPK changed its impeachment reason afterward. When the Constitutional Court indicated the motions could be dismissed, the DPK even asked the court to find evidence for them. In the end, all four impeachment motions were rejected. These were not legitimate legal actions but political attacks.
Filing false accusations to punish someone is a crime. The DPK’s reckless impeachment moves not only harm those targeted but also paralyze governance and disrupt the legal system. Yet, they have done this 30 times.
The DPK accused President Yoon of insurrection, but its repeated impeachment attempts are just as serious in undermining the system. It has pushed through baseless motions and used legislation to block governance—all to protect Lee Jae-myung. Is this not an abuse of power disguised as law? It is hard to find another country where this happens.
