▲ Prosecutor Lee Jung-seop (L) attends a Constitutional Court hearing over a string of allegations, including his alleged cover-up of a drug investigation into his brother-in-law, in this file photo taken May 28, 2024. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) prosecutor impeachment-Constitutional Court

(LEAD) Constitutional Court again rejects impeachment motion against prosecutor

(ATTN: ADDS responses from parties in last 2 paras)

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- The Constitutional Court on Thursday again rejected the National Assembly's impeachment motion of a prosecutor, saying the reasoning was unspecified or not relevant to duty and, therefore, not valid grounds for impeachment.

The nine-member court unanimously reached the decision, nearly nine months after the opposition Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against Lee Jung-seop of the Daejeon High Prosecutor's Office.

Lee was accused of a string of irregularities, including looking up criminal records of others without authority, covering up the drug investigations of his brother-in-law and falsely registering his home address, among others.

The Constitutional Court, however, said most allegations were not sufficiently specified and dropped the case without making further judgment.

The court dismissed allegations that Lee had hosted private meetings in violation of the gathering ban during the COVID-19 pandemic or falsely registered his home address, saying such acts do not work as grounds for impeachment.

The Constitutional Court also rejected Lee's claims that a prosecutor is not subject to impeachment, or that the National Assembly had abused the right for impeachment.

Thursday's ruling marks the second-ever impeachment trial against a prosecutor after the court rejected the impeachment motion against another prosecutor in May.

After the court's decision, the main opposition party said that it will relaunch an impeachment motion against the prosecutor depending on the probe results from the prosecutors' office and the anti-corruption investigation office, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

The ruling People Power Party said the Democratic Party should apologize for the decision and hold political responsibility.

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