South Korean lawmakers on Friday accused acting President Han Deok-soo of failing to move quickly enough to complete his impeachment and trial following former President Yoon Seok-yeol's disastrous attempt. was impeached. impose martial law Han's term as acting president ended up lasting only 13 days.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik announced On Friday, 192 members of Congress voted to impeach Han, and all 192 voted in favor.
Most of the rest of South Korea's 300-seat National Assembly were members of Yun and Han's People Power Party (PPP). They managed to delay the impeachment vote by loudly protesting and demanding the resignation of an enraged Woo, who declared that only a simple majority vote was needed to impeach Han.
Chairman Woo Won-sik said, appeared As a central figure in South Korea's political crisis, he bravely wielded the gavel in parliament, earning him the nickname “Thor'' among South Korean youth. Although he is technically not a member of either party, he will be required to renounce his party affiliation to become speaker.
Mr. Woo, a 67-year-old former student activist, marched in front of police and soldiers who were ordered to barricade the National Assembly after Mr. Yoon declared martial law on December 3, and then climbed over the fence and entered the National Assembly. invaded and attracted national attention. It was called to the chamber in time to preside over a vote to override Mr. Yoon's order.
Most observers of the political crisis, including most PPP lawmakers, credit Mr. Wu with continuing to pay close attention to proper legislative procedures during the December drama. That's why the PPP was so furious with its chairman on Friday when it felt Wu was going to change the rules. Kick Han out of the acting president's office.
Currently, the opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) holds 170 seats, and the Democratic Party holds 108 seats. Under South Korea's constitution, a two-thirds majority is required to impeach a president, but it was impossible for the Democratic Progressive Party to pass this threshold.
DP worked around that obstacle by: are discussing They argued that since Mr. Han was both the acting president and the current prime minister, he could be impeached using the minimum 151 votes required for a prime minister. South Korean legal experts said the situation is unclear because no acting president has ever been impeached. Democratic Progressive Party members countered that by using procedural dirty tricks to impeach Mr. Han, the Democratic Progressive Party was circumventing the constitution and exacerbating South Korea's political turmoil.
Han said Friday he would respect the National Assembly vote and resign, paving the way for Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is also finance minister, to become acting president.
Choi failed begged Lawmakers urged Han not to be impeached and warned that South Korea's “economic and external credibility, which has just gained a foothold under the rule of the acting president, must not be destabilized again.”
After the vote, Han said, “In order to avoid adding to the confusion and uncertainty, I will suspend my duties in accordance with the relevant laws and wait for the Constitutional Court's swift and judicious judgment.''
Choi agreed, saying, “The most important thing right now is to minimize the disruption in national politics.'' “The government will do everything it can to stabilize them.”
The Constitutional Court is at the center of the controversy that culminated in Han's impeachment. The court normally has nine judges, but three of them retired in early 2024. The vacancy has not yet been filled.
President Yun is impeached But only the Constitutional Court can actually remove him from office, which would require six judges to vote in favor. Although Yoon's presidential powers were suspended when he was impeached, he enjoys presidential immunity from prosecution until he is removed from office.
There is also a possibility that the Constitutional Court will overturn the impeachment against Yoon and restore his full powers. Yun is confident he will prevail on the court, and as long as three seats remain open on the court, he only needs one justice to vote in his favor to avoid removal.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party nominated three judges to fill the vacant seats, but the party has boycotted the selection process, and Mr. Han has refused to appoint judges unless he receives bipartisan approval in Congress. Han also said it was unclear whether the acting president had the power to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court, so he hoped Congress would vote in favor of giving him that power.
The Democratic Progressive Party ignored Han's opposition and accused him of obstructing the impeachment process to protect Yun. If Yoon is removed from office, there is a strong possibility that he will face criminal charges for attempting to impose martial law. Among other objections, the Democratic Party pointed out When former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2016, the acting president at the time appointed judges to the Constitutional Court.
The park is only The South Korean president was impeached and removed from office by the Constitutional Court, a process that ultimately took about three months. The terms of the two current judges expire in April 2025, and opposition parties have accused the PPP of trying to run out the time by holding on to the three vacant seats.
Han's warning that the continued instability was damaging the South Korean economy was well-founded. Korean won rolled On Friday, the currency rose to a 16-year low of 1,467 won against the dollar, moving perilously close to the 1,400 won to the dollar, the threshold that South Korean economists consider critical.
