National Assembly submits motion to impeach acting President Han

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National Assembly submits motion to impeach acting President Han

Published: 26 Dec. 2024, 19:16 Updated: 27 Dec. 2024, 02:56

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, third from right, talks with party members during the plenary session at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 26. [AP/YONHAP]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) submitted a parliamentary impeachment motion against acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday after he said he would hold off on appointing the National Assembly’s nominees for the Constitutional Court.

The DP, which holds a 170-seat majority in the 300-member legislature, plans to hold a floor vote on the impeachment motion on Friday, after the requisite 24 hours since its introduction have passed.

The DP’s move marks a dramatic escalation in the political crisis that has ensued since President Yoon Suk Yeok briefly declared martial law on Dec. 3 and was consequently impeached by the DP-controlled legislature 11 days later.

Much of the battle between the country’s rival parties has been focused on the issue of appointing new justices to fill three vacancies in the nine-member Constitutional Court, which will decide Yoon’s fate in the coming months.

The nominations are intended to fill seats on the court’s bench that are reserved for candidates forwarded to the president by the National Assembly.

All three seats have been vacant since Oct. 17, when the terms of the previous parliamentary appointees expired.

As an impeachment motion requires the support of six justices to stand, the court's current six members would have to unanimously support Yoon’s removal from office if new justices are not appointed.

While the DP has argued that the acting president can and should appoint the National Assembly’s candidates for the court, this argument has been disputed by both Han and the conservative People Power Party (PPP).

Acting President Han Duck-soo delivers a public address at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 26. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

In his public address at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, earlier Thursday, Han said he would “refrain” from exercising the “unique” presidential right to appoint court nominees.

Noting that “not a single justice has ever been appointed to the Constitutional Court without an agreement between the major parties,” the acting president argued he should not act on the nominations “unless there is bipartisan consensus.”

Han’s announcement came after the DP warned him on Tuesday that he, too, could be impeached if he did not “immediately” approve the legislature’s picks.

However, the DP’s warning appeared to have failed to move Han, who said his position was “not important” relative to the need for political consensus.

The nominations of Constitutional Court nominees Ma Eun-hyeok, Jeong Gye-son and Jo Han-chang are approved without lawmakers from the People Power Party at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 26. [YONHAP]

Han’s speech, and the DP’s subsequent decision to seek his impeachment, is likely to further delay the appointment of the three candidates officially nominated by the National Assembly on Thursday.

The nominations of Seoul Western District Court judges Ma Eun-hyeok and Jeong Gye-son, who were picked by the DP, both passed with 193 votes from 195 lawmakers present.

The nomination of former judge and current attorney Jo Han-chang, who was recommended by the PPP, passed with 185 votes in support.

Despite nominating Jo, the PPP largely boycotted Thursday’s proceedings at the National Assembly.

The party, which holds 108 parliamentary seats, has argued that only the elected president has the right to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court, though the Supreme Court said Wednesday that the acting president can exercise that power as well.

The only PPP lawmakers who defied their party line to attend the nomination votes were Reps. Cho Kyoung-tae, Han Zeea, Kim Sang-wook and Kim Yeaji.

Interim PPP leader Kwon Young-se said Wednesday that his party could file a complaint with the Constitutional Court if the legislature attempted to railroad the nominations.

The two parties not only disagree over whether Han has the right to appoint new justices — they also dispute how many lawmakers are needed to impeach an acting president.

While the DP claims that a simple majority in the 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.

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.”

The DP has accused Han of acquiescing to Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration in its warnings to him that he should cooperate with the legislature.

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 escalation in the standoff between the government and DP over the court came a day after President Yoon failed to answer a summons to appear for questioning by the joint task led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO).

The joint investigative team is spearheading the probe into suspicions that the president committed insurrection and treason with his martial law decree.

On Thursday, the joint task force issued its third summons to Yoon, demanding he appear at the CIO by 10 a.m. on Sunday.

The CIO said it sent summons by express post to the presidential office and Yoon’s residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, as well as by e-mail to his office.

Although CIO officials floated the possibility of requesting a warrant to detain Yoon after he failed to respond to their previous summons, that idea appears to have been temporarily shelved given the judiciary’s reluctance to allow investigators to take a sitting president into custody.

While it remains unclear if Yoon would submit to questioning, Yoon’s lawyer and longtime acquaintance, Seok Dong-hyeon, said Tuesday that the president “thinks that the Constitutional Court’s impeachment trial procedure should take priority [over the CIO-led investigation] because the National Assembly filed the impeachment motion.”

Seok also argued that “an open impeachment trial overseen by the Constitutional Court’s justices should serve as the main stage of public debate,” noting that former President Park Geun-hye did not face a criminal investigation until after the Constitutional Court had upheld her impeachment in 2017.

The court’s justices held their first meeting regarding Yoon’s impeachment case on Thursday.

Though the meeting was held behind closed doors, court spokesperson Lee Jin said afterward that there “will be no change” regarding the date of the pretrial hearing, which is scheduled to take place on Friday.

Lee added that Yoon had not submitted any additional documents detailing his defense before the hearing.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]