DP delays impeachment motion, awaits acting president's decision on Constitutional Court nominations

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DP delays impeachment motion, awaits acting president's decision on Constitutional Court nominations

Published: 24 Dec. 2024, 17:56 Updated: 25 Dec. 2024, 04:08

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Acting President Han Duck-soo attends a luncheon at his official residence in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 24. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said Tuesday evening it will hold off on impeaching acting President Han Duck-soo over his refusal to consider two bills to establish special counsel probes into President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The party’s abrupt reversal of its earlier decision to remove Han from office came less than two hours after DP lawmakers unanimously agreed to push an impeachment motion against him for failing to consider the legislation at a morning Cabinet meeting.

In comments to reporters, DP floor leader Park Chan-dae said his party would “wait and see” if acting President Han approves the appointments of candidates nominated by the National Assembly for the Constitutional Court on Thursday.

However, Park emphasized that Thursday “is the last chance” for Han to keep his post and called on him to “cooperate in ending the insurrection,” referring to Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3.

The DP has characterized Yoon’s decree as an attempt to replace the country’s democratic system with military rule.

Earlier that day, Park vowed to “snuff out remaining embers of the insurrection” in an apparent reference to Han and other officials that the DP views as being loyal to the now-suspended Yoon.

The party has accused Han of acquiescing to Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration and threatened to impeach him unless he cooperated with the DP-controlled National Assembly.

Some DP members have suggested impeaching five Cabinet members at once to prevent the body from reaching a quorum, effectively neutralizing its ability to reject bills.

The party’s official stance as of Tuesday evening is that it will pursue Han’s impeachment on Friday if he does not approve the National Assembly’s candidates to fill three vacancies on the nine-member Constitutional Court, which will decide Yoon’s fate.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, third from left, floor leader Park Chan-dae, third from right, and other party members hold placards calling on acting President Han Duck-soo to approve bills that would establish special counsel probes into President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 24. [YONHAP]

During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Han called upon the DP to reach an agreement with the conservative People Power Party (PPP) regarding the two contentious bills and court appointments.

However, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik criticized Han’s call for a bipartisan consensus as “misguided,” arguing that the special counsel probes are “demanded by the people.”

The PPP claims that the DP’s proposed special counsel probe into the first lady is part of a larger effort to uncover dirt on the conservative party’s internal discussions.

The probe targets allegations that Kim interfered in the PPP’s candidate nomination process.

In response to Park’s comments on Tuesday, the PPP accused the DP of holding Han and other Cabinet ministers “hostage” by threatening to impeach them if they do not agree to promulgate its bills.

Acting PPP leader Kweon Seong-dong accused the DP of acting “no differently from mobsters” in its rhetoric.

"The DP’s politics of intimidation have reached a new extreme with its interference with the acting president’s legitimate exercise of his powers and its threat to impeach him if he does not obey,” Kweon said at a general meeting of lawmakers held at the National Assembly earlier in the day.

While Park claimed that a simple majority in the National Assembly is enough to impeach Han from his position as prime minister, Kweon argued that two-thirds of lawmakers must support an impeachment motion against Han as he is currently the acting president.

“Though the DP claims it wants to impeach Han for his conduct as acting president, its official argument is that he should be removed for how he acted as prime minister, which is a complete joke,” Kweon said.

The DP holds 170 seats in the 300-member legislature against the PPP’s 108 seats.

Legally speaking, a DP-led attempt to impeach Han could also lead the country into even murkier waters.

In her response to an inquiry from the DP to the National Assembly Research Service, legislative researcher Jeon Jinyoung said that “there is currently no academic consensus on whether the conditions for impeaching a prime minister would apply to an incumbent who is accused of wrongdoing before they became acting president.”

A premature attempt to impeach Han by the DP could endanger the party’s efforts to have him appoint three justices to the nine-member Constitutional Court.

If additional justices are not seated, all six current members would need to agree to uphold Yoon’s impeachment.

Although liberal newspaper Hankyoreh recently reported that the acting president has decided to not appoint more justices to the court, this claim was denied by Han's office on Tuesday.

“Acting President Han handles all issues according to the Constitution, relevant laws and the national interest,” the office said in a press release, adding that he remains “open to various opinions from not only politicians on both sides of the aisle but also academic experts and the media.”

Update, Dec. 24: Story updated as DP holds off on decision to pursue acting President Han's impeachment.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]