Constitutional Court to halt impeachment trial of senior prosecutor

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday decided to temporarily halt the impeachment trial of a senior prosecutor in a political meddling scandal. The court said the decision was made under a provision of the court's governing law, which allows for the suspension of trial proceedings if a related criminal case is ongoing. However, it did not provide a specific reason for the decision. Son Jun-sung, deputy chief prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors Office, was accused of meddling in the last parliamentary elections in 2020 by conspiring with a then opposition lawmaker to have complaints filed against key ruling party figures before the elections. The National Assembly, led by lawmakers from the Democratic Party, now the main opposition party, voted to impeach him in December. The Constitutional Court had since been preparing to review whether to approve the impeachment or not. The decision to suspend the trial comes after Son requested last month to halt proceedings until the conclusion of an appeals cou rt trial related to a criminal case against him. In January, a local court sentenced him to one year in prison, finding him guilty of leaking official secrets and violating laws protecting personal information. An appeals trial is scheduled to open at the Seoul High Court later this month, as Son challenged the lower court's decision. Source: Yonhap News Agency