SEOUL — A parliamentary committee has scheduled a hearing for August 14 to consider the impeachment of prosecutor Kim Young-cheol, who is accused of failing to adequately investigate an alleged stock manipulation scheme involving First Lady Kim Keon Hee. The decision was made by the legislation and judiciary committee during a session on Wednesday, where the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) pushed the motion through without participation from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) members.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the impeachment involves accusations against Kim Young-cheol, a senior prosecutor at the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office, for not thoroughly investigating the First Lady’s alleged connections to irregularities at Deutsch Motors Inc., a BMW dealership in South Korea. The committee has summoned twenty witnesses for the hearing, including the First Lady and Prosecutor General Lee One-Seok. The impeachment motion is part of a broader initiative by the DP, which also targets three other prosecutors involved in investigations against former DP leader Lee Jae-myung, related to various allegations of corruption during his time as the mayor of Seongnam.