Constitutional Court to Deliver Verdict on Son Jun-seong's Impeachment Trial at 2 PM on the 17th, After 1 Year and 7 Months

[Financial News] The decision on the impeachment of Son Jun-seong, Deputy Chief Prosecutor at Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, who is on trial for 'prosecution inducement suspicion,' will be made on the 17th. It has been 1 year and 7 months since his duties were suspended due to the impeachment proposal.
The Constitutional Court announced on the 14th that it will proceed with the verdict of the impeachment trial of Prosecutor Son at 2 PM on the 17th at the Grand Courtroom of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Previously, the National Assembly passed the impeachment proposal against Prosecutor Son in December 2023 related to the 'prosecution inducement suspicion.' The suspicion involves Prosecutor Son allegedly sending an image of an indictment and real-name judgment documents against pro-government figures to Kim Woong, then a candidate for the National Assembly from the Future United Party (predecessor of the People Power Party), just before the 21st general election in April 2020.
The core of the suspicion was that the prosecution allegedly incited indictments against Choi Kang-wook, former candidate for proportional representative of the Open Democratic Party, Hwang Hee-seok, former senior official, and Yoo Si-min, then chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, to create negative public opinion against the ruling party at the time.
The Constitutional Court had suspended the impeachment trial procedure due to the ongoing criminal trial against Prosecutor Son, and the impeachment trial resumed after the Supreme Court confirmed his acquittal last April. Article 51 of the Constitutional Court Act stipulates that 'if a criminal trial is ongoing for the same reason as the impeachment trial request against the respondent, the court may suspend the trial procedure.'
Prosecutor Son was brought to trial for charges including violation of the Public Official Election Act and leaking official secrets related to the prosecution inducement suspicion. The first trial sentenced Prosecutor Son to 1 year in prison, but the second trial overturned the decision with a not guilty verdict, and the Supreme Court upheld the original decision last April, confirming his acquittal.

jisseo@fnnews.com Seo Min-ji Reporter