Roh Moo Hyun on Impeachment

Roh Moo Hyun's presidency was interrupted in March 2004 when the National Assembly voted to impeach him, which was the first such event in South Korea's modern democratic history. The core charge against Roh Moo Hyun centered on a technical violation of election laws: he had publicly encouraged support for his newly formed Uri Party ahead of legislative elections, breaching the constitutional mandate for presidential impartiality. Although his executive powers were immediately suspended, the public reaction strongly favored the President, leading to massive street protests against the impeachment and a decisive victory for his Uri Party in the subsequent April 2004 parliamentary elections.

Two months after the initial vote, the Constitutional Court of Korea reviewed the case and unanimously decided to overturn the impeachment on May 14, 2004, reinstating him to office. The Court acknowledged that while a technical violation of the election law regarding neutrality had occurred, it did not constitute a violation of the Constitution or law that was serious or grave enough to warrant his removal from office and the unseating of the president. This decision, which restored his powers, remains a landmark event in comparative constitutional law as it was the first time a legislature-impeached president was reinstated by a judicial body.