South Korea dismisses acting president Han Duck-soo

This Friday, December 27, the National Assembly of South Korea voted in favor of the impeachment motion against the acting president, Han Duck-soo. The move comes less than two weeks after Han took office following the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. We remember that the latter was removed from his position due to the imposition of a controversial martial law that sparked widespread criticism both nationally and internationally.

The vote ended in a unanimous result, with 192 votes in favor and 0 against. This represents a historic event as it is the first time that a sitting president has been removed from office by the South Korean National Assembly. This outcome occurs in the midst of a deep political crisis that the country is going through and was possible, in part, due to the weight that the opposition has in Parliament, where the Democratic Party (DP, for its acronym in English) occupies 170 of the 300 seats. seats available.

The DP was the one who promoted the motion last Thursday, December 26, alleging several reasons that justified the dismissal of Han Duck-soo. Among the main reasons was his refusal to appoint additional judges to the Constitutional Court, an action that hindered the impeachment process against Yoon Suk Yeol. This nine-member court currently has only six active judges. The law requires a minimum of six votes in favor to ratify a recall motion, so vacancies must be filled to ensure a fair and complete process.

Additionally, the Democratic Party included in the list of reasons for removing Han his involvement in the implementation of martial law under President Yoon and his refusal to enact two special prosecutors’ bills. These projects sought to investigate both the former president and the first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who have been the subject of suspicion for alleged acts of corruption and abuse of power on various occasions.

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Thus, political tension in the country increased when Han Duck-soo declared that he would not proceed with the appointment of the magistrates until the rival parties reached a political compromise. However, the DP considered this stance as unacceptable obstruction of the relevant judicial processes and promised to act immediately to remove the sitting president if he did not fulfill his responsibility.

The opposition party argued that given the seriousness of the circumstances, it was essential to ensure that the Constitutional Court was fully functional to carry out its deliberations on Yoon’s impeachment case.

The legal process for an impeachment motion establishes that it must be voted on between 24 and 72 hours after being presented in a plenary session of Parliament. In this case, the DP managed to speed up the process and bring the motion to a vote within the minimum time allowed, ensuring that the pressure was kept on the acting president.

If political uncertainty was already palpable with the dismissal of the president and the mandate of an acting president, now, with the dismissal of Han Duck-soo, South Korea finds itself more lost than ever. Many believe that the lack of clear leadership and major divisions and tensions between the parties could further complicate the situation.

For the moment, the focus is on the Constitutional Court and its ability to handle Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment case fairly and transparently.