South Korean opposition pushes for Acting President’s impeachment

SEOUL – The main opposition Democratic Party said on Dec 24 it will

push ahead with the impeachment process for South Korean Acting President Han Duck-soo

, on the coattails of him snubbing the opposition’s demand to promulgate special counsel Bills targeting the President and First Lady and calling for a parliamentary “compromise” on current issues.

Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae accused Mr Han of impediment with the intention to maintain what the opposition is defining as an act of insurrection on the part of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The main opposition has been calling for the Bills that would authorise special counsel investigations into insurrection and corruption allegations involving Mr Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, respectively. Mr Yoon has been under a

criminal investigation for insurrection and abuse of power

regarding his orders during his ill-fated Dec 3 and 4 martial law.

But Mr Han’s Cabinet meeting on Dec 24 skipped any review of the special counsel Bills altogether, as the Acting President called for “compromised measures” from the ruling and opposition parties over issues of the Bills and the appointment of new Constitutional Court justices.

“How could an investigation on insurrection be subject to compromise? Han’s words cannot be interpreted as anything but his attempt to delay matters and retain (the state of) insurrection,” Mr Park said, stressing that his party would move forward immediately to impeach Mr Han.

Mr Han, the Prime Minister who has taken on presidential duties

since Mr Yoon’s impeachment motion

was passed by the National Assembly on Dec 14, has already got on the wrong side of the opposition by vetoing the six Bills it unilaterally passed, which include a contentious grain law revision.

The opposition is also calling for Mr Han to promptly approve the parliamentary nominations for three new justices for the Constitutional Court, which the ruling People Power Party has said is not appropriate.

Appointing the new justices for the Constitutional Court is deemed an essential process for Mr Yoon’s impeachment trial, which is set to commence with a preparatory hearing on Dec 27. The court currently has only six out of nine justices on its bench, with the law mandating the minimum consent of six judges to confirm impeachment.

While reaching a ruling on the President’s impeachment with the current bench of six is theoretically possible, it is widely considered to be a risky move on the court’s part.

With the main opposition party pushing to remove Mr Han from office, the ruling and opposition parties have also been butting heads over the legal specifics of impeaching him as the acting president or prime minister.

The Democratic Party has said that approval of just more than half – 151 – of the 300 National Assembly members is necessary to pass his impeachment motion, which is the legal mandate for an impeachment resolution of a prime minister. But the ruling party has countered that such a motion for the Acting President requires approval of 200 lawmakers, which is the requirement for presidential impeachment.

This issue is up for legal interpretation, as no clause stipulates the requirements for an acting president’s impeachment. The Democratic Party currently has 170 seats in the National Assembly, which means it could unilaterally pass Mr Han’s impeachment motion if it requires 151 or more.

The National Assembly Research Service said academic circles are split on which standard should be applied for the Acting President, if there is cause for impeachment while one is carrying out one’s duties as the acting president. It added that if such cause occurred while one is carrying out the duties as prime minister, the standards for a prime minister would apply. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK