Lawmakers of five opposition parties filed a motion to impeach acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday, citing his failure to appoint a ninth Constitutional Court justice.
The parties, led by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, hold a combined 190 seats out of 300 at the National Assembly, which is enough to carry Choi's impeachment without additional votes.
The motion stated that Choi had defied the parliament's request to appoint a Constitutional Court justice and a Supreme Court justice; abetted Yoon's martial law declaration; and failed to name a parliament-backed independent prosecutor to look into Yoon's alleged insurrection despite the parliament passing a resolution to do so.
According to Rep. Han Min-soo of the Democratic Party on Friday, the impeachment motion could be passed with a simple majority because Choi is a public official who is not the president.
This means Choi could be impeached in the upcoming plenary session Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho is next in line to take on the role of acting president, in accordance with South Korea's presidential line of succession.
The main opposition party previously led the parliament's impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Since Yoon came to power in 2022 until Thursday, the opposition-led National Assembly has impeached 29 public officials in the Yoon administration, including Yoon himself.
Choi, who is the deputy prime minister and finance minister, has served as the acting president since late December following Han's Dec. 27 impeachment, which passed according to the threshold of 151 votes.
Earlier on Friday, the Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Choi, for his alleged involvement in ex-president Park Geun-hye's high-profile corruption scandal that erupted in 2016.
In 2017, investigative authorities had dropped the case against Choi, but the party alleged that the authorities had "deliberately" decided not to bring Choi to a criminal trial. The party was seeking charges of bribery and blackmail, concerning Choi's alleged involvement in coercing 16 corporations into contributing to a foundation associated with Park's confidant Choi Soon-sil, who is now known by the name Choi Seo-won.
The ruling party and conservative figures condemned the opposition-led move.
People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong told reporters Friday described the opposition party's action as "terrorism that vandalizes state affairs."
The opposition intends "not only to threaten Choi but also destroy the whole country," Kweon said.
Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said in a Facebook post that the opposition party's impeachment spree "is reminiscent of the plot of 'Designated Survivor,'" referring to a US Netflix series about a disaster that wipes out almost everyone in the Cabinet.
Former ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said Friday the process of impeachment "has been reduced to a cunning tool to suspend a public official, even though (the politicians responsible) know the official will not eventually be removed from the post."
The Constitutional Court has ruled on eight of the 29 officials impeached since May 2022. None fo the impeachments has been upheld.
The acting president has remained silent on whether he would appoint left-leaning senior judge Ma Eun-hyuk as the ninth justice of the Constitutional Court. Ma is one of the three nominated by the National Assembly, as Choi appointed two of the three — left-leaning Chung Kye-sun and right-leaning Cho Han-chang — as justices amid political gridlock over their nomination.
In February, the Constitutional Court found that Choi had a duty to name a ninth judge to the court, and that failing to do so would constitute a violation of the legislature's rights.
But Choi has yet to announce his appointment, as the court ruling indicated that it has no authority to mandate the acting president into taking action.
The court has been deliberating on the case for over three weeks since the trial ended in late February. Because of an injunction in place, upholding Yoon's impeachment motion requires a majority opinion of at least six justices, instead of the usual seven.
Amid gridlock, the opposition party ramped up pressure on Choi by pledging Thursday to move to impeach the defiant acting president. In response, Choi said to reporters via text message Thursday that he is preoccupied with state affairs in the face of global uncertainties and worrying about how his future as the acting president unfolds "is a mere extravagance."
consnow@heraldcorp.com
