With just one month left before South Korea’s early presidential election amid critical US tariff talks that have been racing forward, Seoul has been rocked by an unprecedented leadership vacuum: the president, prime minister and top economic chief are all absent due to impeachment or resignation.
Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, fourth in the Cabinet hierarchy, assumed the role of acting president on Friday, marking the fourth leadership change in six months following now-disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration.
The latest political shakeup is also tied to political feuding, as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Choi Sang-mok, who had been next in line after Han as acting president, resigned Thursday night just before an impeachment vote in the National Assembly, spearheaded by the main liberal Democratic Party of Korea, which would have suspended him from duty.
The party’s move is widely seen as a backlash against the Supreme Court’s majority decision earlier that day to remand the lower court's acquittal of Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the party’s former leader and the current front-runner in the presidential race.
The concurrent resignations of Choi and former acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who also resigned Thursday and announced the official launch of his presidential campaign Friday morning, came at a particularly sensitive moment both domestically and internationally.
Concerns have been raised about whether the Education Ministry, which has long focused exclusively on education-related matters and operates on a smaller scale, will be able to fully support the acting president at this critical time. Even the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees the economy, had its key duties downplayed when its head, then Finance Minister Choi, became the country's interim leader Dec. 27-March 24, underscoring the enormous amount and serious level of work the position entails.
In particular, Han and Choi had been pushing ahead tariff negotiations with the US Trump administration amid the "reciprocal" tariff pause, which is supposed to end July 8, with “2+2” ministerial consultations held on April 24. Choi had been participating in the negotiations alongside Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun as co-chief delegates.
"Ultimately, when it comes to big-picture decisions, they have to be made by the top economic policymakers — meaning minister-level officials," Joo Won, an economist at the Hyundai Research Institute, said in an interview with local broadcaster YTN. "So, considering that we’ve now lost our top economic policymaker, I think the Korea-US trade negotiations may drag on longer than expected and will likely be difficult to conclude smoothly."
Other than the absence of the top economic policymaker, Lee — who has no practical experience in diplomacy and trade — is now left handling these matters until the presidential election next month, sparking some concerns.
In response to such concerns, Lee said Friday that he would do his best to ensure the “stable management of state affairs,” explaining that “state affairs are managed through a system.”
The political turmoil also caused confusion in the government’s communications with foreign missions in Seoul, raising concerns over potential damage to South Korea’s international reputation.
On Thursday, the government initially informed the missions of Han’s resignation and the commencement of the acting presidency under Choi by sending out a diplomatic note. But after Choi’s unexpected resignation that evening, the Foreign Ministry had to withdraw them.
By Friday morning, the ministry issued a new diplomatic note, notifying the missions of the transition to the new acting presidency under Lee. The Foreign Ministry has consistently provided updates to foreign missions with each change in acting leadership.
The unprecedented “acting acting acting president” administration under Lee’s leadership will continue for the next 33 days until the inauguration of a new government immediately after the presidential election results become clear on June 3, without a transition period.
More noteworthy, Lee Ju-ho's acting presidency also came at a juncture when feuds have been growing at the National Assembly between the Democratic Party and People Power Party over the Supreme Court's decision to send back the lower court's acquittal of Rep. Lee Jae-myung on two charges of election law violations, as well as over Han's presidential campaign launch.
Amid the growing rivalry, Lee Ju-ho could potentially be pressed by the People Power Party to veto bills passed by the Democratic Party, which holds 175 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly, within the next 33 days — a possibility that is heightening tensions.
On Friday, the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, notably led by the Democratic Party, tabled a controversial amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would suspend ongoing criminal trials for president-elects.
The conservative People Power Party condemned the move as an “unprecedented legislative coup," accusing the Democratic Party of pushing a “Lee Jae-myung bulletproof law” one day after the Supreme Court ruling remanding Lee's acquittal in a statement by party spokesperson Rep. Shin Dong-wook.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
