On December 27, the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against Acting President and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, with all 192 members present voting in favor.
The decision came just 13 days after Yoon Seok-yeol was impeached and suspended from office, creating an unprecedented situation in South Korean constitutional history in which both the president and acting president face impeachment.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, which holds 170 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, submitted an impeachment bill against Han Deok-soo the day before. The move follows Mr. Han’s refusal to appoint additional judges to the Constitutional Court, which is to preside over the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol.
Both Democrats cited several grounds for impeaching Han. These include his role in Yoon’s alleged attempt to impose martial law, and his refusal to approve two special prosecutor bills aimed at investigating President Yoon and first lady Kim Kun-hee. This includes: These were some of the five reasons in total outlined in the motion.
After the impeachment bill is passed, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok will become acting president.
Prior to the vote, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, gave a speech on the floor and stated, “This motion is about the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Deok-soo.” Therefore, pursuant to the provisions of Article 65, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution, decisions will be made by a majority of the current members. Article 65 (2) stipulates that impeachment of the prime minister or cabinet ministers requires a majority (151 votes) of registered members, while impeachment of the president requires two-thirds (200 votes). are. Chairman Yu agreed with the Democratic Party’s interpretation and applied the majority vote that applies to prime ministers regarding the impeachment of Han Deok-soo as acting president.
Chairman Yu further stated, “Based on Article 10 of the National Assembly Act, the Speaker has the authority to organize parliamentary proceedings.After considering the opinions of constitutional scholars and the National Legislative Research Office, we decided on a quorum for this motion. ” Article 10 of the National Assembly Act gives the Speaker the power to represent the parliament, organize its proceedings, maintain order, and supervise its operations. Wu’s statement effectively asserted his authority to interpret procedural requirements as the dispute over quorum continues.
In contrast, the People Power Party (PPP) argued that the two-thirds majority rule for impeaching a president should also apply to the acting president. PPP lawmakers boycotted the vote and attended the meeting only to protest against Chairman Wu, chanting phrases such as “invalid” and “chairman resign,” before leaving the meeting.
The PPP announced plans to challenge the decision by filing a constitutional petition in the Constitutional Court and requesting a stay of execution to stop the motion from taking effect. They criticized Speaker Wu’s decision to apply simple majority voting, arguing that it violated constitutional norms.
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