Yoon's office refrains from commenting ahead of ruling on interior minister's impeachment

▲ Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, who was impeached by the parliament on Feb. 8, 2023, arrives at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on May 9 to attend an initial hearing on his impeachment that has suspended his duties. The National Assembly passed his impeachment bill, citing the government's allegedly bungled response to a crowd crush that killed 159 people in the capital's Itaewon district in late October of the previous year. (Yonhap)

presidential office-interior minister

Yoon's office refrains from commenting ahead of ruling on interior minister's impeachment

SEOUL, July 25 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office refrained from commenting Tuesday ahead of the Constitutional Court's decision on whether to endorse or reject the National Assembly's impeachment of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over last year's deadly crowd crush in Seoul.

The court is set to announce its decision at 2 p.m., nearly six months after the opposition-controlled Assembly passed an impeachment motion against Lee to hold him accountable for the crowd crush that killed 159 people in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood on Oct. 29.

"We will refrain from commenting before the interior minister's impeachment trial decision is out," a key presidential official told Yonhap News Agency.

Another presidential official noted, however, that Lee's suspension from office pending the trial created a large vacuum in handling issues overseen by the ministry, including the response to recent deadly downpours.

"A large gap was inevitable in areas such as disaster response, police management and government appointments," the official said.

The official also questioned whether there are clear grounds to hold Lee responsible for the deadly crowd crush under relevant laws and the Constitution.

If the court upholds the impeachment, Lee will be immediately removed from office. If it rejects the motion, Lee will be reinstated.

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