their formal meaning, but also, for example, international treaties that are provided with the same force as statutes, and the international law that is generally approved. 5. Whether the respondent violated the Constitution or statutes in exercising his official duties Article 53(1) of the Constitutional Court Act provides that the "Constitutional Court shall issue a decision removing the respondent from office should the grounds for the impeachment petition be valid." Therefore, in order to determine whether to issue a decision to remove the President from office, an examination should precede upon the existence of the grounds for impeachment set forth in the Constitution, i.e., whether the 'President violated the Constitution or statutes in the performance of his official duties.' In the immediately following paragraphs, we will examine each of the grounds for impeachment stated in the impeachment resolution of the National Assembly under the respective categories. A. Act of supporting a particular political party at a press conference (the statements at the press conference with six of the Seoul-Incheon area news media organizations on February 18, 2004, and as an invited guest at the press conference with the Korean Network Reporters Club on February 24, 2004) Pursuant to the acknowledged facts, the President stated, at a press conference on February 18, 2004 with six of the Seoul-Incheon area news media organizations, that "... I simply cannot utter what will follow should the quorum to resist the constitution revision be destroyed"; and, at a press conference with the Korean Network Reporters Club, as an invited guest, which was broadcasted nationwide on February 24, 2004, in response to a question posed by a reporter concerning the upcoming general election that 'how the respondent would run the political affairs if the Uri Party would remain as a minority party unlike the anticipation of Chung Dongyoung, the Chairman of the Uri Party, projecting about 100 seats as a goal,' the respondent stated that "I expect that the public will overwhelmingly support the Uri Party," "I would like to do anything that is legal if it may lead to the votes for the Uri Party," and "when they elected Roh Moo-hyun as the President, the public will make it clear whether I will be backed to do it well for the four - 168 -