(3rd LD) Nat'l Assembly votes to impeach interior minister over Itaewon tragedy

Politics 15:27 February 08, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with vote results)
By Kim Na-young

SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- The opposition-controlled National Assembly voted Wednesday to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over last year's Itaewon crowd crush, marking the first-ever impeachment of a Cabinet member.

The impeachment motion passed 179-109, with five votes ruled invalid, forcing the suspension of Lee from duties until the Constitutional Court decides whether to endorse or reject the motion.

Depending on the court's decision, Lee will either be reinstated or removed from office.

The court has 180 days to rule on the case.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and two minor parties introduced the impeachment motion earlier this week to hold Lee accountable for the government's allegedly bungled response to the crowd crush that killed 159 people.

It marked the National Assembly's first impeachment of a Cabinet member.

In the past, two presidents -- Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye -- were impeached by the National Assembly in 2004 and 2016, respectively. The Constutional Court rejected Roh's impeachement, but endorsed Park's and ousted her from office.

It is unclear how the court will rule on this case, but compared with a dismissal motion, an impeachment requires more concrete proof that the official in question has violated the Constitution or law in serving his or her role.

After wrapping up an investigation last month, police decided not to hold any officials from the interior ministry, the Seoul city government or the national police agency accountable for the deadly accident, concluding those bodies are not legally responsible for crowd control duties.