(News Focus) Impeachment of acting president over martial law deepens leadership vacuum

▲ Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo walks away after his public address announced at the government complex in central Seoul on Dec. 26, 2024. (Yonhap)

▲ Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok (Yonhap)

(News Focus) acting president-leadership vacuum

(News Focus) Impeachment of acting president over martial law deepens leadership vacuum

By Park Boram

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The impeachment of acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday plunged South Korea into an unprecedented leadership vacuum, requiring the finance minister to double as both president and prime minister for the first time in history.

The opposition-controlled National Assembly approved a motion to impeach Han over his refusal to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court, which is currently handling an impeachment case against President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) also noted Han's alleged involvement in Yoon's short-lived martial law invocation on Dec. 3, as well as his refusal to promulgate two special counsel bills targeting Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee, as some of the reasons for the party's push for his impeachment.

Friday's impeachment suspended Han, the country's No. 2, from the role of acting president, a position he had assumed after Yoon was impeached Dec. 14 over his martial law plot and suspended from his duties until the Constitutional Court decides whether to reinstate him or remove him from office, a process expected to take months.

It marks the first time in Korean history that both the president and the acting president have been impeached simultaneously.

The displacement of Han from office is feared to further deepen South Korea's leadership vacuum as the country navigates its way through a sluggish economy, and political and diplomatic uncertainties in the run-up to Donald Trump's return to the presidency for his second term next month.

Now, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok, who is third in line, will assume office not only as acting president but also as acting prime minister.

The shift leaves Choi to juggle three challenging roles simultaneously, amid an increasingly divisive National Assembly, and a mounting pile of economic and diplomatic challenges.

It remains unclear whether Choi, once in the top position, will exercise presidential authority to appoint three justices to fill the Constitutional Court's nine-member bench, an issue considered crucial by rival parties, as a full bench is seen as increasing the possibility of Yoon's ouster.

The court needs approval from at least six justices to uphold the president's impeachment.

Holding 192 of the total 300 parliamentary seats, along with allied parties, the DP could impeach Choi as well if he also refuses to appoint Constitutional Court justices.

If Choi and four more Cabinet members are similarly impeached and suspended from their duties, the Cabinet will not meet the minimum requirement of 11 members to convene an official meeting.

In that case, any bills passed by the National Assembly will automatically become law and take effect after designated durations, in the absence of a process to promulgate them or request parliament to reconsider them.

The next minister in line to act as president if Choi is impeached is Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, followed by Science Minister Yoo Sang-im, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho.

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