Prime Minister Han returns as acting president after court dismisses impeachment

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Prime Minister Han returns as acting president after court dismisses impeachment

Published: 24 Mar. 2025, 15:57

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Acting President Han Duck-soo bows after addressing the public at the Seoul government complex on March 24 after the impeachment motion against him had been dismissed earlier that day. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo returned as acting president as the Constitutional Court ruled to dismiss the impeachment motion against him on Monday, 87 days after he was suspended from office.

The court ruled against his impeachment in a 5-2-1 decision, with five justices — Moon Hyung-bae, Lee Mi-son Kim Hyung-du, Jung Jung-mi, and Kim Bok-hyeong — voting to dismiss the motion. One justice, Chung Kye-sun, voted in favor of impeachment, while two others, Cheong Hyung-sik and Cho Han-chang, argued the case should be rejected on procedural grounds and abstained from ruling on the merits of the case.

The National Assembly’s impeachment motion, passed on Dec. 27, 2024, cited five allegations.

The allegations include Han’s refusal to appoint the justices, his refusal to establish a special prosecutor to look into insurrection allegations, his involvement in Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration, his refusal to approve two special counsel bills targeting Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee, as well as his attempt to establish a joint governance system with former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon.

Six justices found no constitutional or legal violations occurred in relation to three of the charges.

Especially on the allegation Han was involved in President Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, the court said that while Han had requested a meeting of Cabinet members before the declaration to gather their responses, there is no objective evidence that he was actively involved in the declaration process.

However, the justices debated whether Han’s failure to appoint a special prosecutor and refusal to appoint court justices constituted impeachable offenses.

Four justices — Moon, Lee, Kim Hyung-du, and Chung — determined that Han’s refusal to appoint three justices was unconstitutional but did not warrant removal from office. They emphasized that the National Assembly has the exclusive authority to nominate three Constitutional Court justices and that the president, or in this case, the acting president, cannot arbitrarily refuse to appoint them.

However, they ruled that Han’s actions did not rise to the level of a severe constitutional violation requiring impeachment, as there was no evidence that he had attempted to obstruct the court’s functions for political reasons.

Justice Kim Bok-hyeong, however, argued that Han’s refusal to appoint the justices was neither unconstitutional nor illegal. Kim stated that it is difficult to say that the justice nominees “should be appointed ‘immediately’ after they were recommended by the National Assembly” and that Han had the right to thoroughly review the process. Kim also pointed out that Han’s impeachment motion was passed just a day after the motion nominating the three justices passed.

Chung was the sole justice to support impeachment, arguing that Han’s refusal to appoint justices as well as a special prosecutor in the insurrection investigation was a grave violation of the law. Chung stated that Han exacerbated national instability by failing to resolve key legal disputes in a timely manner, undermining constitutional governance.

“Despite carrying the responsibility to quickly clear up national chaos and minimize unnecessary confusion, [Han] exacerbated the situation,” Chung said. “The level of violation can justify impeachment considering his decisions caused a constitutional crisis by preventing the court from performing its duties.”

Two justices, Cheong Hyung-sik and Cho Han-chang, did not weigh in on the merits of the case, arguing instead that the impeachment motion was procedurally invalid. They contended that as Han’s impeachment should have been subject to the same threshold as a sitting president, which requires a two-thirds majority (200 votes) in the 300-member National Assembly.

Acting President Han Duck-soo takes part in the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on March 24 as he returns to office. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The motion passed with 192 votes, meeting the threshold for impeaching a prime minister but not a president.

The two justices said that an acting president holds authority comparable to that of an elected president and should not be impeached by a simple majority.

The other justices, however, viewed Han as being in a different position than an elected president and said that his legitimacy as an interim leader was less than that of the elected president.

With the court’s decision, Han immediately resumed his role as acting president in President Yoon’s absence. Addressing the nation from the government complex in Seoul, he vowed to restore stability and focus on economic and trade issues.

“I will dedicate myself to the nation’s stability and the protection of our economic interests in the face of global trade challenges,” Han said.

Translated using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY CHOI SEO-IN,KIM JEE-HEE [[email protected]]