Constitutional Court of South Korea Rejects Impeachment of Interim President
Acting President Han Duck-soo was filling in for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was also impeached by the National Assembly.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has dismissed the Parliament’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s replacement.
The court’s eight sitting justices voted 5-1 against the impeachment. Two had voted to reject the National Assembly’s impeachment motion entirely, South Korean state media Yonhap reported.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo became acting president on Dec. 14 when the National Assembly unicameral parliament voted to impeach Yoon over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law and strip him of his powers.
Han was subsequently impeached on Dec. 27 in a partisan National Assembly vote for refusing to comply with parliamentary demands. He had declined to progress the opposition’s motion to fill three vacancies on the nine-seat Constitutional Court. The Court’s six judges did not meet the quorum of seven needed to deliberate.
Han cited political bias in the candidates nominated by the opposition-led National Assembly. He called for the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to present candidates that would win consensus from the ruling People Power Party (PPP).
The decision reinstates Han to acting president.
Related Stories
This is a developing story and will be updated.
