(CLO) South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) filed an impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck Soo on Thursday and will hold a vote on Friday, a move that could deepen South Korea's constitutional crisis stemming from a brief martial law declaration earlier.
The decision came shortly after acting President Han announced that he would not appoint judges to the Constitutional Court until opposition political parties reached a compromise.
The Democratic Party has vowed to impeach acting President Han unless he approves the appointment of three judges to the Constitutional Court, which the party-controlled parliament is set to vote on soon.
The three nominees will fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court, which currently has just six justices instead of its full nine members. The Constitutional Court will play a key role in hearing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Mr. Han Duck Soo. Photo: Lee Seung-hwan
Under South Korean law, at least six votes from judges at the Constitutional Court are needed to uphold the impeachment. The Democratic Party is preparing to hold a vote on the issue of appointing judges at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday.
By law, an impeachment motion must be put to a vote within 24 to 72 hours of being reported to the National Assembly plenary session. So the clock is ticking, and the vote on the appointment of judges will have a direct impact on the political future of acting President Han.
The Democratic Party is now pressuring Acting President Han Duck Soo to finalize his appointments to the Constitutional Court. Failure to do so would further escalate the impeachment process, adding to the tension in South Korea’s current political crisis.
Also on Friday, the Constitutional Court of South Korea is scheduled to hold a hearing to decide whether President Yoon should be removed from office. According to the Constitution, at least six justices must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the Constitutional Court needs an absolute consensus of the current justices to make such a decision.
President Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 in a vote that included many members of his own party. As of Thursday, however, Yoon had not submitted the necessary legal documents required by the Constitutional Court, and he has refused to comply with the latest summons for questioning in a separate criminal investigation.
Ngoc Anh (according to Yonhap, Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/den-luot-quyen-tong-thong-han-quoc-bi-bo-phieu-luan-toi-post327598.html
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