The National Assembly has passed an impeachment bill, marking the first-ever dismissal of a sitting prosecutor in constitutional history. This impeachment targets Prosecutor Ahn Dong-hwan, who was accused of abusing prosecutorial power. The controversy arose over his indictment of Yoo Woo-seong, the victim of a manipulation case by Seoul Metropolitan Government officials. The Supreme Court had previously acknowledged prosecutorial abuse in this case. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ahn Dong-hwan's work is suspended pending a final decision by the Constitutional Court.
In another case, Yoo Woo-seong, a North Korean defector of Chinese descent, was indicted on various charges, including illegally remitting money to North Korea. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office had previously postponed his indictment, citing minor government complicity, but additional charges were filed later. He was found guilty in the first trial but not guilty in the second trial, with the court citing the prosecution's abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
In a related development, Yoo Woo-seong and his family filed a lawsuit against the state for damages, and the court ruled in their favor, awarding them 230 million won. This decision highlighted human rights abuses by investigative agencies during the spy case, which should not occur in a democratic country.
The prosecutors involved in the civil servant spy case faced disciplinary action for their handling of evidence manipulation. The National Intelligence Service investigators were accused of using coercive methods, including electric torture, to obtain false confessions from witnesses. Prosecutors faced suspension and salary reduction for negligence in confirming the evidence.
Yoo Woo-seong's espionage charges were revisited, with the prosecution planning to appeal to the Supreme Court based on the admissibility of evidence. The case had previously seen discrepancies in evidence, including entry and exit records and witness statements.
Overall, these cases involve complex legal issues, including abuse of prosecutorial power, evidence manipulation, and human rights violations during investigations.
1. Today, the National Assembly passed an impeachment bill calling for the dismissal of a sitting prosecutor for the first time in constitutional history .
2. The impeachment bill is against Prosecutor Ahn Dong-hwan, who was previously put on trial for espionage charges .
3. The reason for the impeachment is the abuse of prosecutorial power by Ahn Dong-hwan .
4. The Supreme Court previously acknowledged the prosecutor's abuse of prosecutorial power .
5. The impeachment bill was passed based on this Supreme Court ruling .
6. 106 lawmakers, including Democratic Party members, filed a motion to impeach Prosecutor Ahn on the grounds that he abused the right to public prosecution for revenge at the prosecution organization level .
7. The prosecutor was found not guilty in the first trial .
8. The prosecution was investigated for charges related to remittances to North Korea and was additionally indicted the following year .
9. The Supreme Court confirmed the prosecution's abuse of the right to public prosecution for the first time in 2021 and dismissed the indictment .
10. The current political prosecution was born because the wrongdoings that had not been dealt with were piled up one after another .
11. Mr. U, who filed a lawsuit for damages against the state after receiving a final ruling from Wooju on the charge of sending money to North Korea, announced his position as a private return while appearing at the trial today .
12. The indictment of Yoo Woo-sung, a victim of the spy manipulation case, on charges of sending money to North Korea was an abuse of the prosecution's power to prosecute .
13. The Supreme Court's decision has been made .
14. This was a case in which the prosecution additionally indicted immediately after the prosecutors were disciplined after evidence manipulation was revealed in the trial .
15. The second trial ruling was different. The indictment was dismissed on the charge of sending money to North Korea .
16. The court dismissed the indictment at the time of disciplinary action against the prosecutor .
17. The Supreme Court confirmed this original judgment today .
18. The charge that Mr. Yoo got a job as a Seoul city government official under the assumption that he was a North Korean defector was upheld and a fine of 7 million won was confirmed .
19. The prosecution said that the investigator at the time they were sent to trial, and when I looked at the indictment, it was written that the National Intelligence Service had obtained a false confession by threatening to use electric torture .
20. In 2013, while working as a Seoul city government official, he was in court on charges of passing on personal information of North Korean defectors to North Korea .
21. Yoo Woo-sung's Seoul City civil servant spy case made a big fuss in the world, but UC was actually found not guilty by the Supreme Court three years later .
22. The incident led to a fact-finding investigation by the prosecution's past history committee, and in the process of sending those involved in the apology to trial, the harsh treatment of the NIS investigators