In South Korea, the President, the prime minister, members of the State Council, heads of Executive Ministries, Justices of the Constitutional Court, judges, members of the National Election Commission, the Chairperson and members of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and other public officials designated by Act can each be impeached by the National Assembly for violating the Constitution or other Acts in the performance of official duties.
The National Assembly has the exclusive power to initiate impeachment cases. An official is considered impeached when at least half of total number of Assembly members vote in favor of the motion of impeachment, the formal document detailing the charges (however, a two-thirds majority of the total number of Assembly members is required for the impeachment of the President).
When the impeachment bill is passed, the bill is sent to the Constitutional Court which acts as an impeachment court to try the official and determine guilt. If the court votes by a two-thirds majority vote (currently 6 out of 9 justices) to uphold the impeachment motion, the official is removed from office and cannot serve as a public official for 5 years from the date of the impeachment decision.
Procedure The procedure for impeachment is set out in the Constitution.
Impeachable officials and impeachable offenses Article 65 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Clause 1 provides:
Passage by National Assembly
Article 65 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Clause 2 provides:
In the case of the impeachment of Han Duck-soo, the Prime Minister, who was also the acting President following Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, there was a debate whether Han, as an acting president, could only be impeached with a two-thirds requirement like the President or via an absolute majority of Assembly members (as he was still the Prime Minister). The Constitutional Court ruled 6-2 on 10 April 2025 that the requirements for Han to be impeached as a cabinet minister rather than as president under the guidelines set by the Speaker of the National Assembly did not violate the constitution.
Suspension of impeached official from office A successful impeachment vote is followed by suspension of duties, while an impeachment trial in the Constitutional Court takes place.
Article 65 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Clause 3 provides:
Article 65 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Clause 4 provides:
Constitutional Court impeachment trial
The Speaker of the National Assembly will be required to send the original copy of the impeachment bill immediately to the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, who serves as the impeachment prosecutor. The impeachment prosecutor shall request adjudication by presenting the bill to the Constitutional Court which sits as an impeachment court.
Per the Constitutional Court Act, the Constitutional Court must make a final decision within 180 days after it receives any case for adjudication, including impeachment cases. If the respondent has already left office before the pronouncement of the decision, the case is dismissed.
While precedent exists for the Constitutional Court to hold hearings to address impeachments of lower offices with only six members seated at a time when three of its seats were vacant (set during the impeachment of Lee Jin-sook at her request for proceedings to begin promptly), there is a strict quorum of seven justices needed to be present for the court to hold proceedings on presidential impeachments.
Criteria to remove official Neither the constitution nor the Constitutional Court Act provides concrete criteria to be considered in an impeachment case. Therefore, previous Constitutional Court decisions play an important role in establishing standards of review for impeachment cases. In President Roh's impeachment case, the court decided that a grave () violation of the law is required to remove a president from office. However, in the case of President Park Geun-hye, the Constitutional Court held that a violation of the constitution is sufficient for removal, even without a grave violation of the law or statutes.
Constitutional Court verdict
At least six of the nine Constitutional Court judges must find the impeachment case valid, for the defending official to be removed from office.
Article 113 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Clause 1 provides:
An impeached official cannot serve as a public official for 5 years from the date of the impeachment decision.
If presidents are removed from office, Article 68 Clause 2 of the Constitution states that a successor shall be elected within sixty days in an snap election, which was what happened in 2017 and 2025.
If less than 6 judges agree to uphold the impeachment motion, the case is dismissed and the impeached official is restored to office, resuming his or her duties.
List of impeachments The National Assembly has approved impeachment motions 16 times for 16 officials. Of these: Six were prosecutors. Three were sitting presidents. One was Prime Minister. Two were ministers of the State Council. One was a judge. Three were the heads of state agencies.
Of the 16 impeachment motions passed by the National Assembly: Three respondents were removed from office after the Constitutional Court of Korea found sufficient grounds to uphold their impeachments. Presidents Park Geun-hye (2017) and Yoon Suk Yeol (2025), National Police Agency Commissioner-General Cho Ji-ho (2025). One case was dismissed by the Constitutional Court because the respondent went into retirement and his term of office ended during the trial. Twelve ended in acquittal and resulted in the respondent continuing in office.
No. Respondent Position Accusations Date of impeachment by National Assembly National Assembly vote Constitutional Court judgment Constitutional Court decision Constitutional Court vote Detail 1 Roh Moo-hyun President of the Republic of Korea Violating the Public Official Election Act, abetting his close aides’ corruption and failing to address the economic downturn. 12 March 2004 193–2 14 May 2004 Impeachment dismissed Not disclosed 2 Park Geun-hye President of the Republic of Korea Serious violations of the law via abuse of power, betrayal of the public trust, failure to safeguard and comply with the Constitution (related to the 2016 South Korean political scandal) 9 December 2016 234–56 10 March 2017 Impeachment upheld; respondent removed from office 8–0 (details) 3 Lim Seong-geun Presiding Judge, Busan High Court Interference in politically sensitive trials and influencing a libel case 4 February 2021 179–102 28 October 2021 Case dismissed as legally null and void (Respondent had retired from office on 28 February 2021) 5-3 4 Lee Sang-min Minister of the Interior and Safety Violated the Constitution and statutes in the performance of official duties in relation to the Itaewon crowd crush 8 February 2023 179–109 25 July 2023 Impeachment dismissed 9-0 5 Ahn Dong-wan Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Busan District Prosecutors' Office Abuse of authority through retaliatory prosecutions 21 September 2023 180–105 30 May 2024 Impeachment dismissed 5–4 6 Son Jun-sung Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Daegu High Prosecutors Office Allegedly conspired to encourage criminal complaints against ruling party figures before the 2020 legislative election 1 December 2023 175–2 17 July 2025 Impeachment dismissed 7–0 7 Lee Jung-seop Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Abuse of authority, improper access to criminal records, accepting hospitality, covering up a drug investigation, intervening in a bribery case, and false residence registration 1 December 2023 174–3 29 August 2024 Impeachment dismissed 9-0 8 Lee Jin-sook Chair, Korea Communications Commission Operating the KCC with only two commissioners without a quorum and violating political neutrality 2 August 2024 186–1 23 January 2025 Impeachment dismissed 4–4 9 Lee Chang-soo Chief Prosecutor, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Improperly dropping the First Lady Kim Keon-hee's stock manipulation case and making false public statements related to the investigation 5 December 2024 185–3 13 March 2025 Impeachment dismissed 8–0 10 Cho Sang-won Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Improperly dropping the First Lady Kim Keon-hee's stock manipulation case and making false public statements related to the investigation 5 December 2024 186–4 13 March 2025 Impeachment dismissed 8–0 11 Choi Jae-hoon Head of Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Improperly dropping the First Lady Kim Keon-hee's stock manipulation case and making false public statements related to the investigation 5 December 2024 187–4 13 March 2025 Impeachment dismissed 8–0 12 Choe Jae-hee Chair, Board of Audit and Inspection Alleged legal violations in audits concerning the relocation of the presidential office and politically motivated audits of Jeon Hyun-hee, Chair of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission 5 December 2024 188–4 13 March 2025 Impeachment dismissed 8–0 13 Cho Ji-ho Commissioner General of the National Police Agency Execution of unconstitutional martial law under the president’s unconstitutional and unlawful orders, abandoning the constitutional duty and responsibility entrusted to the National Police Agency commissioner general, infringing the powers of the National Assembly and National Election Commission, and violating constitutional rights. 12 December 2024 202–88 18 December 2025 Impeachment upheld; respondent removed from office 9–0 14 Park Sung-jae Minister of Justice Aiding the unlawful declaration of Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law and violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly 12 December 2024 195–100 10 April 2025 Impeachment dismissed 8–0 15 Yoon Suk Yeol President of the Republic of Korea Violations of constitutional and statutory requirements in declaring emergency martial law, infringing the powers of the National Assembly, judiciary and National Election Commission, and violating constitutional rights 14 December 2024 204–85 4 April 2025 Impeachment upheld; respondent removed from office 8–0 (details) 16 Han Duck-soo Prime Minister (in capacity as Acting President) As Acting President: Dereliction of duty by refusal to promulgate bills for special counsel investigations of President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee; and blocking three National Assembly-approved appointments of Constitutional Court justices. 27 December 2024 192–0 24 March 2025 Impeachment dismissed 7–1 (details)
List of unsuccessful impeachments Below is an incomplete list of notable impeachment motions that did not pass the National Assembly, including officials who resigned from office before impeachment vote.
Year Accused Office Accusations Summary1985 Yoo Tai-heung Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea Failing to safeguard the independence of the judiciary Impeachment motion failed to pass the Assembly: