South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday formally removed the country’s impeached police chief for deploying hundreds of officers to support ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
The court said Cho Ji-ho “actively disrupted” legislative activities by deploying hundreds of police officers to the National Assembly and trying to block lawmakers from reaching the main chamber to vote to lift Yoon’s decree.
Cho also infringed upon the independence of the National Election Commission (NEC), the court said, by dispatching police to help the military’s seizure of two NEC offices. Yoon said the actions were intended to investigate unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
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Cho, who was impeached by lawmakers and arrested a week after Yoon’s power grab, is the first commissioner general of the National Police Agency to be removed by the Constitutional Court. He was granted bail in January after a Seoul criminal court cited his need for cancer treatment and faces a separate criminal trial on charges of assisting a rebellion.
Yoon imposed martial law on December 3, 2024, describing the action as necessary to suppress an “anti-state” liberal opposition controlling the legislature. Hours later a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through the military and police blockade and unanimously voted to revoke the order.
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South Korean prosecutors formally indict ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol for martial law plot
South Korean prosecutors formally indict ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol for martial law plot
Lawmakers later in December voted to impeach Yoon, suspending his powers and placing his fate with the Constitutional Court, which formally removed him from office in April. He was rearrested in July and faces a slew of serious charges including rebellion, which is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.