Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speeches during his televised address at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. (Yonhap)
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speeches during his televised address at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. (Yonhap)

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said Friday the party's efforts to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo aimed to make South Korea an exemplary democratic state, rather than to disrupt state affairs.

"By dispelling the nefarious delusions of those attempting an insurrection, we will emerge as a stronger, exemplary democratic nation. We will turn this crisis into an opportunity for new leaps forward," Lee said during a televised public address Friday morning.

Lee further stressed that Han has become not merely an acting president but a facilitator of insurrection, while the ruling party has positioned itself as a "guard" for the insurrectionist leaders.

He claimed that Han's decision to deny the appointment of constitutional court justices is another attempt to disrupt the constitutional order by delaying the establishment of a necessary constitutional body for state governance.

Lee’s address came a day after Han expressed his intention not to appoint three Constitutional Court justice candidates nominated by the parliament unless bilateral agreement was reached. The bills to nominate new justice nominees to fill in the vacancies of the nine-member bench at the court -- at President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial -- passed the National Assembly Thursday.

Currently, the Constitutional Court has only six sitting justices. The ongoing impeachment motion against President Yoon requires a majority opinion of at least six justices, meaning the court's failure to hand down a unanimous verdict in the current setting would overturn Yoon's impeachment by the legislature.