DP moves to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo

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DP moves to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo

Published: 26 Dec. 2024, 15:20 Updated: 26 Dec. 2024, 15:21

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo is submitted to the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 26. [NEWS1]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) submitted an impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo in the National Assembly on Thursday.

The motion was submitted after Han announced earlier in the day that he would hold off on appointing the National Assembly’s nominees to fill the Constitutional Court, which will rule on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment case.

The DP plans to hold a floor vote on Han’s impeachment motion on Friday.

The party previously warned Han that it would seek his removal from office unless he approved the legislature’s nominees to the Constitutional Court.

However, Han said earlier Thursday he would “refrain” from exercising the presidential right to appoint court nominees, arguing that power rests with the elected president alone.

He called for bipartisan consensus regarding the court’s three current vacancies, noting that all previous justices that were nominated by the legislature had the backing of the country’s two major parties.

The conservative People Power Party has also argued that only the elected president has the right to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court.

The two parties also disagree over how many lawmakers are needed to impeach Han.

While the DP claims that a simple majority in the 300-member National Assembly is enough to suspend Han from his position as prime minister, the PPP argues that two-thirds of lawmakers must support an impeachment motion against Han as he is currently the acting president.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]