Constitutional Court Partially Grants Lee Jinsook’s Injunction, Clearing Her to Attend the Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission Audit

Lee Cleared to Attend Oct. 22 Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission Audit, but Barred from Commenting on "Allegations Involving Her"

The Constitutional Court partially suspended the effect of the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s decision to exclude People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jinsook from the parliamentary audit. As a result, Lee will be able to attend the Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission’s parliamentary audit on October 22, but she will be barred from speaking on allegations directly related to her.

People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook leaves the chamber after a resolution calling for her expulsion is introduced during a plenary session at the National Assembly on Aug. 26, 2026. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

The Constitutional Court said on October 21 that it had partially granted Lee’s request for an injunction to suspend the effect of her exclusion from the parliamentary audit, which she had filed against the National Assembly.

In its ruling, the court said, “When a lawmaker’s participation in a parliamentary audit is suspended through a vote by the National Assembly plenary or a standing committee, the lawmaker may be excluded only from the specific matter in which they have a direct interest or where there are exceptional grounds making impartiality difficult to expect.” It added, “Even if some grounds for exclusion are recognized, participation in the parliamentary audit itself cannot be broadly restricted.”

However, the court upheld the grounds for excluding Lee from matters concerning work she had decided on or carried out while serving as chair of the Korea Communications Commission. Accordingly, she cannot ask questions or speak on matters directly involving her, including the appointment of directors to the Korean Broadcasting System under the commission’s two-member system, which was pushed through, a complaint against her over alleged perjury, and a complaint alleging occupational breach of trust over her private use of a corporate credit card.

Earlier, on October 12, the ruling party introduced and approved a motion to exclude Lee from the audit, saying that serious conflicts of interest were a concern because work she had performed as Korea Communications Commission chair was a key subject of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s parliamentary audit. In response, the People Power Party filed a request with the Constitutional Court on October 15 for an injunction to suspend the effect of the decision, along with a petition for adjudication of a dispute over authority.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.