SEOUL– Constitutional Court Justice Lee Jong-seok has been named as the presiding judge in the impeachment case filed against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, legal sources said Monday.
The court named Lee Jong-seok, 62, via a random electronic designation process, the sources said.
Last Thursday, the National Assembly submitted the impeachment resolution against Minister Lee to the Constitutional Court after passing the motion the previous day in a bid to hold him accountable for the government’s bungled response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district last year.
Justice Lee will be tasked with presiding over the nine-member council of Constitutional Court justices’ deliberations on the case.
The court has 180 days to rule on the case.
Lee took office as a Constitutional Court justice in 2018 at the recommendation of what is now the ruling People Power Party, and is largely seen as conservative leaning.
He was a schoolmate of President Yoon Suk Yeol at Seoul National University’s school of law.
Source: Yonhap News Agency