Acting President Choi's first big test with Jeju Air crash complicated by shorthanded Cabinet

Home > National > Politics

Acting President Choi's first big test with Jeju Air crash complicated by shorthanded Cabinet

Published: 29 Dec. 2024, 17:40 Updated: 29 Dec. 2024, 20:50

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Acting President Choi Sang-mok, left, speaks at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at Muan County Hall in South Jeolla on Dec. 29. [MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND FINANCE]

Acting President Choi Sang-mok faced his first test as the country's interim leader on Sunday after a deadly plane crash in Muan, South Jeolla, threw gaps in the government and its emergency response system into sharp relief.

Choi succeeded Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting president following Han’s impeachment in a 192-0 vote by the National Assembly on Friday.

He must now carry out not only his regular duties as deputy prime minister and chief of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, but also the demands of the presidency and prime minister’s office.

In his first public address on Friday, Choi said he would prioritize “minimizing chaos” and vowed to maintain national security, economic stability and public safety despite the country’s deepening political crisis and gridlock.

Choi further called on the country’s civil servants and government officials to “carry out their duties faithfully to ensure the stable functioning of the state.”

However, Choi’s responsibility for dealing with a disaster such as Sunday’s plane crash will likely be heavier than it would have been under the now-impeached Han or President Yoon Suk Yeol.

In a Facebook post on his account, Yoon issued a statement expressing his “sincere condolences” to victims of the crash.

Yoon also expressed his confidence that the government will “do its utmost to assist victims of the accident.”

Though the prime minister usually organizes the official response to disasters, including relief efforts, this burden has fallen upon Choi with Han’s suspension from office.

The top posts at the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry, which both play significant roles in disaster management, are also currently vacant after the previous incumbents resigned in the wake of Yoon’s botched declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.

Both ministries are currently being run by vice ministers.

Coincidentally, the Korea Airports Corporation, which operates Muan International Airport, is also without a president.

Despite the growing risk that the country could be left without a government to mount effective responses to serious crises, hard-liners in the liberal Democratic Party (DP) have suggested impeaching more ministers to neutralize the Cabinet’s ability to stonewall legislation should Choi not cooperate with the DP-controlled National Assembly.

At least 11 members of the 21-member Cabinet must be present for the council to hold meetings, where it considers bills and issues directives. Six Cabinet-level positions are currently empty due to impeachments or resignations.

One of the DP’s reasons for impeaching Han was his refusal to immediately appoint the legislature’s three nominees for the Constitutional Court, which will decide the outcome of Yoon’s impeachment trial.

For Yoon’s impeachment to be upheld, at least six justices must agree on his removal from office.

The court must therefore be unanimous with its current six-member composition to finalize his dismissal.

In recent comments, DP Rep. Jang Kyung-tae said his party “should impeach several Cabinet members,” including Choi, if he also delays appointing more justices to the court.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok leaves the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on his way to the site of the plane crash in Muan, South Jeolla, on Sunday morning. [YONHAP]

If Choi is impeached, he would be replaced by Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, followed by Science Minister Lee Sang-im, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho and others according to the line of presidential succesion.

It remains to be seen how Choi will handle relations with the National Assembly, which is controlled by the liberal Democratic Party (DP).

Before succeeding Han as the country’s interim leader on Friday, Choi said he foresees the role of the acting president to be much “constrained” in light of the DP’s demands.

His view of the acting presidency appears to differ slightly from his predecessor in the role, who vetoed multiple legislation passed by the National Assembly, including bills to establish special counsel probes into Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The prime minister attributed his choice to exercise some presidential prerogatives, such as the veto power, but not others, such as Constitutional Court appointments, to the lack of 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.

He further 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.”

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.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]