Opposition warns it will impeach all ministers; ruling party vows to file complaint

South Korea's rival parties have ratcheted up the political strife as the Constitutional Court continues to delay the announcement of its verdict over whether it will uphold suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment for his Dec. 3 martial law declaration -- now almost four months ago.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, put pressure on Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo to immediately appoint the remaining Constitutional Court justice nominated by the opposition-led National Assembly, Ma Eun-hyuk.

Park said Sunday that if Han fails to fulfill his constitutional duty of appointing the justice by April 1, the party will make a "grave decision."

This grave decision is understood to mean starting National Assembly procedures to impeach him — again.

On Friday, a group of newly elected first-time Democratic Party lawmakers warned that if Han refuses to appoint justice nominee Ma, they will seek the “twin impeachment” of Han and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, as Choi had also refused to appoint the justice, despite the Constitutional Court's Feb. 27 ruling that appointing the ninth justice was his duty as acting president at the time.

The lawmakers said that they will impeach the other Cabinet ministers one after the other in order of succession as acting president in the event that they also refuse to appoint the remaining justice.

The warning came less than a week after the Constitutional Court rejected Han’s impeachment, though it acknowledged his refusal to appoint the justices as acting president had violated the Constitution. He was allowed to resume work as prime minister and acting president the same day.

If all the ministers are impeached and suspended, the administration could go into paralysis. In the eyes of some, whether the country dissolves into such anarchy seems to matter less than removing Yoon.

The main opposition party, which holds the majority of seats in the National Assembly, has so far proposed 30 impeachment bills and pushed 13 of them through the Assembly.

The Constitutional Court has heard nine cases and rejected them all so far, including the one against Han.

The party should apologize for wasting national resources and causing chaos, but it has continued to impeach Yoon administration officials. Some believe this shows they lack the responsibility required to handle state affairs.

Nonetheless, the opposition parties have the power to pass impeachment bills as the bloc holds the majority of seats in the parliament. Considering that they have introduced bills to impeach 30 Yoon administration officials, it wouldn’t be surprising if they do just as they said.

However, there is little chance that the Constitutional Court will uphold these motions. If it seeks to impeach Han again despite the Constitutional Court’s earlier majority ruling voting down his impeachment, the result would likely be no different.

In response to the first-time Democratic Party lawmakers’ warning that it will impeach all Cabinet ministers, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, said his party would file complaints against these lawmakers, along with Democratic Party Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung, and Kim Ou-joon, the popular journalist and host of the Kim Ou-joon's Gyeomson is Nothing News Factory YouTube channel, on charges of conspiring with and instigating an insurrection.

Another People Power Party lawmaker called for the government to ask the Constitutional Court to rule the Democratic Party "unconstitutional" and order its disbandment.

It is concerning that the confrontation between the rival parties is intensifying at a time when the nation is faced with many issues at home and abroad.

The opposition party’s impeachment warning stems from a sense of crisis over the speculation that the Constitutional Court could dismiss, vote down or delay indefinitely the impeachment of Yoon.

According to some speculations, the Constitutional Court has not designated the date of its verdict yet, probably because three of its current eight justices oppose Yoon’s impeachment.

Consent of a minimum of six justices is required for the court to approve an impeachment. The hearings on Yoon’s impeachment case ended on Feb. 25.

Furthermore, the terms of two justices — Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-son — are scheduled to expire on April 18. Speculations are multiplying on whether the Constitutional Court will issue its ruling before their terms expire, and what will happen if it fails to do so.

No one knows why the Constitutional Court has not announced its ruling date yet. One can only guess. Some speculate that the Constitutional Court is going to announce its ruling after reaching a unanimous decision, even though the quorum for upholding impeachment has already been reached.

As the wait for the verdict continues to drag on far longer than previous presidential impeachment verdicts, speculations are snowballing, deepening the chaos and strife.

The Constitutional Court should issue its ruling quickly and without political considerations before the political turmoil becomes insoluble.


koreadherald@heradcorp.com