South Korea: Parliament approves unprecedented impeachment of PM Han Duck-soo

• Decision taken with support of only opposition MPs
• Impeachment comes after Han Duck-soo refuses to appoint constitutional judges
• Deputy PM and FinMin Choi Sang-mok to assume role of acting President
• Political crisis set to deepen as South Korea enters uncharted territory

National Assembly approved the impeachment of PM and acting president Han Duck-soo with a vote of 192-0, marking the first time in history an acting president has been impeached, local media reported on Friday (Dec 27). The PM was impeached on the grounds of 5 reasons, including agreeing with President Yoon's martial law declaration which was declared on Dec 3 after a short cabinet meeting. In addition, the impeachment motion also noted Han's attempt to create an unconstitutional "two Han" government with former People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon in the aftermath of the first unsuccessful impeachment motion of President Yoon on Dec 7.

However, the de facto reasons for Han's impeachment are his refusal to appoint Constitutional Court judges and his insistence to veto opposition-pushed bills as the opposition was initially keen on working with Han when he took the role of acting President. Just one day before his impeachment on Friday, Han stated that he will not appoint the 3 Constitutional Court judges recommended by the National Assembly until there is an agreement between the two main parties whether the Acting President has powers to do so. The appointment of the 3 Constitutional Court is a key decision that can decide the outcome of Yoon's impeachment trial as it will allow the Court to confirm the impeachment even when 1 or 2 judges disagree.

The National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik ruled that the impeachment of the PM requires just 151 votes the pass, i.e. simple majority, and not 200 as it is required to impeach the President. Woo stated that the grounds for impeachment arose before PM Han became acting President and thus requires simple majority instead of two-thirds majority which the required for the President. However, there are also legal experts who deem that the PM had to be impeached with 200 votes as he is the acting head of state. It should be noted that there has been no precedent in the history of South Korean with an impeachment of the acting President. The Constitutional Court now has to decide whether to uphold Han's impeachment, while it is also holding an impeachment trial against President Yoon.

With Han's impeachment, the next in line to become acting President is Deputy PM and FinMin Choi Sang-mok. However, the opposition once again gave hints that it will pursue Choi's impeachment if he doesn't meet its expectations. For instance, DP's floor leader Park Chan-dae pressured Choi to immediately appoint the 3 Constitutional Court judges, promulgate two bills creating special counsel probes against the first lady and President Yoon and proceed with the recommendation of a special permanent prosecutor to investigate the martial law incident. DP's actions have raised criticism that it seeks to gain de facto control over the government by threatening to remove the acting President through impeachment.

Overall, South Korea's political crisis is set to deepen further as the country is entering uncharted territory and the government is likely to become even more dysfunctional in the short-term. Han's impeachment might also mark a turning point for public opinion as voters may decide that the Democratic Party has unnecessarily caused political chaos and has overstepped the powers of the National Assembly with Han's impeachment. In our view, the political crisis cannot be solved until there are snap presidential elections as the opposition party is likely to continue to sabotage the government while the PPP remains in power. In turn, the PPP has taken a clear party line to defend President Yoon and hold power for as long as possible in order to prepare the party for the next presidential elections and potentially wait for a Supreme Court ruling that will disqualify DP leader Lee Jae-myung from running for office.