of the Constitution). Also, the President is an institution representing the public will directly vested with the democratic legitimacy in that the President is elected through a national election (Article 67 of the Constitution). In these regards, there is a fundamental difference in political function and weight between the President and other public officials subject to impeachment. This difference is exhibited as a fundamental discrepancy in the 'impact of the removal.' A decision to remove the President from office would deprive the 'democratic legitimacy' delegated to the President by the national constituents through an election during the term of the office and may cause political chaos arising from the disruption of the opinions among the people, that is, the disruption and the antagonism between those who support the President and those who do not, let alone a national loss and an interruption in state affairs from the discontinuity of the performance of presidential duties. Therefore, in the case of the President, the 'directly delegated democratic legitimacy' vested through a national election and the 'public interest in continuity of performance of presidential duties' should be considered as important elements in determining whether to remove the President from office. Therefore in light of the gravity of the effect to be caused by the removal of the President from office, the ground to justify a decision of removal should also possess corresponding gravity. As a result, a grave violation of law is required for a decision to remove the President from office that can overwhelmingly outweigh the extremely significant impact of such decision of removal, whereas even a relatively minor violation of law may justify the removal from office of public officials other than the President as the impact of removal is generally light. (3) Although it is very difficult to provide in general terms which should constitute a 'grave violation of law sufficient to justify the removal of the President from office,' that the impeachment adjudication process is a system designed to protect the Constitution from the abuse of public officials' power on one hand and that the decision of removal of the President from office would deprive the public's trust vested in the President on the other hand, can be presented as important standards. That is, on one hand, from the standpoint that the impeachment adjudication process is a procedure ultimately dedicated to the protection of the Constitution, a decision to remove the President from office may be justified only when the President's act of violating law has a significant meaning in terms of the protection of the Constitution to the extent that it is requested to protect the constitution and restore the impaired constitutional order by a decision of removal. On the other hand, from the standpoint - 196 -