Prime minister accepts impeachment decision to minimize 'chaos and uncertainty'

Home > National > Politics

Prime minister accepts impeachment decision to minimize 'chaos and uncertainty'

Published: 27 Dec. 2024, 18:54 Updated: 27 Dec. 2024, 19:04

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo leaves the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 27 after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against him. [YONHAP]

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that he would accept his suspension from office to minimize political turmoil after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against him on Friday.

In a public statement, Han said he would abide by the legislature’s decision “in order to not add to the chaos and uncertainty” of the country’s fractious politics following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment from office for briefly declaring martial law on Dec. 3.

The National Assembly, which is controlled by the liberal Democratic Party (DP), impeached Han after he cited the lack of bipartisan consensus in his decision to delay appointing candidates nominated on Thursday by the legislature for the Constitutional Court, which will later decide Yoon’s fate.

The DP had urged him to appoint justices to fill three seats on the court’s nine-member bench that are reserved for parliamentary nominees, while the conservative People Power Party has opposed the nominations on the grounds that only the elected president should appoint justices.

Just before leaving the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, Han told officials and civil servants that “the government of the Republic of Korea must continue to function” and called on them “to take heart and work hard” in carrying out their duties, according to the prime minister’s office.

Though he signaled acceptance of his impeachment, Han defended his decision to both veto legislation and defer appointments to the Constitutional Court as keeping in line with precedents set by previous acting presidents.

Han argued that appointing justices without an agreement between the major parties is a “totally different matter” from rejecting bills like former Prime Minister Koh Gun, who vetoed some legislation while serving as acting president in 2004.

Repeating his earlier remark that “no justice in modern history has been appointed without bipartisan consensus,” Han said appointments to the Constitutional Court “carry so much weight and responsibility” that he could not approve the nominations without the backing of both major parties.

Han also argued that the acting president is charged by the Constitution to “concentrate on administering the state in a stable manner but refrain from exercising the president’s unique rights and privileges.”

In this vein, former Prime Minister and acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn waited until the Constitutional Court had upheld then-President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in 2017 before appointing a new justice, according to Han.

While acknowledging that the appointment of new justices is “an urgent matter,” Han argued that approving the National Assembly’s nominees without consensus would only deepen the country’s partisan gridlock.

He further called on the country’s warring political factions to “value constitutional precedents” and “narrow their differences through dialogue.”

Han said it was “disappointing” that the DP had responded to his calls for a consensus on the court nominations by impeaching him, which he noted was the party’s 29th impeachment motion against a Cabinet member since Yoon took office in May 2022.

He also called on the Constitutional Court to issue a swift ruling regarding his own suspension from office.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]