South Korea's National Assembly Impeaches Acting President Han Duck-soo 192-0: Choi Sang-mok Takes Over
On December 27, 2024, South Korea's National Assembly in Seoul voted 192 to 0 to impeach Acting President Han Duck-soo, and Han's duties were suspended. Han, South Korea's prime minister, had become acting president after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and suspended by the Assembly on December 14. The vote made Han the first acting president in South Korean history to be impeached by the National Assembly, and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok became acting president.
According to the timeline of events in a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS), the immediate cause of the dispute was the appointment of Constitutional Court justices. On December 27, Han declined to sign off on the National Assembly's nominees to fill three vacancies on the Constitutional Court's nine-member bench, saying the ruling and opposition parties first had to agree on whether an acting president has the authority to make the appointments and on who should be appointed. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) had boycotted the nomination vote, arguing that only an elected president has the authority to sign off on judges. The court then had only six justices in office, while upholding Yoon's impeachment requires the assent of at least six of the nine justices, so filling the three vacancies was seen as bearing directly on the course of Yoon's impeachment trial.
The voting threshold became a focus before the ballot. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik ruled before the vote that the impeachment motion required only a simple majority to pass, because only the impeachment of an elected president requires a two-thirds majority; Han was being impeached in his capacity as prime minister, a cabinet member. PPP lawmakers boycotted the vote, and all 192 opposition lawmakers present voted in favor, passing the motion 192-0.
It was the second impeachment passed by the National Assembly within two weeks. On the night of December 3, Yoon declared martial law; the Assembly voted 190-0 overnight to demand its withdrawal, and martial law was lifted after about six hours. On December 14, the Assembly passed Yoon's impeachment with 204 votes, Yoon's presidential powers were suspended immediately, and Han became acting president. After taking over, Han on December 24 also declined to promulgate two bills passed by the Assembly authorizing special counsels to investigate Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, deepening the confrontation between the ruling and opposition camps.
On the same day, South Korea's Constitutional Court held the first preparatory hearing in Yoon's impeachment trial, at which legal representatives of the National Assembly and of Yoon appeared to lay out their cases, present their lists of witnesses and evidence, and coordinate future proceedings; the next hearing was set for January 3, 2025. Yoon himself did not attend the hearing. Under South Korean law, the Constitutional Court must rule within 180 days of receiving an impeachment case.
Han's impeachment will likewise go to the Constitutional Court for trial and a ruling. Before that, Choi Sang-mok, serving as both acting president and acting prime minister, on December 31 signed off on two of the National Assembly's three nominees to the Constitutional Court, one proposed by the Democratic Party and the other by the PPP.
Related: South Korea Martial Law Lifted After About Six Hours as Assembly Votes 190-0 to Demand Withdrawal
(Source: Congressional Research Service)
Source: Congressional Research Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于首尔汝矣岛的韩国国会大厦正面，弹劾动议在这里表决通过。Caspian blue 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Front view of the National Assembly building on Yeouido in Seoul, where the impeachment motion was passed. By Caspian blue, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2024-12-03South Korea Martial Law Lifted After About Six Hours as Assembly Votes 190-0 to Demand Withdrawal
- 2024-12-14South Korea's National Assembly Impeaches Yoon Suk Yeol With 204 Votes: Presidential Powers Suspended
- 2024-12-27South Korea's National Assembly Impeaches Acting President Han Duck-soo 192-0: Choi Sang-mok Takes OverThis story
