On March 24, 2025, in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, Han Deok-soo, the Prime Minister of South Korea, was at the government complex. Picture source: Visual China.
On March 24, the Constitutional Court of South Korea rejected the impeachment case against Han Deok-soo, the Prime Minister and Acting President, brought by the National Assembly. Han Deok-soo resumed his duties as Prime Minister and Acting President after 87 days of suspension. Currently, Choi Sang-mok, the Acting President, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, stopped acting as President.
After the emergency martial law order incident on December 3 last year, Yoon Suk-yeol, the President of South Korea who was impeached by the National Assembly, suspended his presidential duties. Han Deok-soo then assumed the duties of the President. However, less than two weeks into his tenure as Acting President, the National Assembly passed an impeachment case against Han Deok-soo on December 27.
The National Assembly accused Han Deok-soo of assisting Yoon Suk-yeol in issuing the martial law order, refusing to appoint three candidates for Constitutional Court justices recommended by the National Assembly, and attempting to establish a "joint governance system" with Han Dong-hoon, the former leader of the ruling People Power Party. Han Deok-soo then suspended his duties, and Choi Sang-mok, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, assumed the duties of the President. The impeachment case was referred to the Constitutional Court for trial.
In Monday's ruling, five out of the eight justices of the Constitutional Court rejected the impeachment case, two proposed non - acceptance, and only one considered the impeachment case to be valid.
According to reports, four out of the five justices who proposed to reject the case believed that Han Deok-soo's failure to appoint the candidates for Constitutional Court justices nominated by the National Assembly violated the constitution but did not constitute a betrayal of the people's trust. Regarding the National Assembly's accusation that Han Deok-soo assisted Yoon Suk-yeol in issuing the martial law order, six justices found no evidence to prove Han Deok-soo's assistance. The justices also did not recognize the National Assembly's accusation that Han Deok-soo attempted to establish a "joint governance system" with Han Dong-hoon.
The justice who believed that the impeachment case should be ruled valid pointed out that Han Deok-soo's failure to promptly appoint candidates recommended for the "special prosecutor for insurrection" in the Yoon Suk-yeol case violated relevant laws. Han Deok-soo's refusal to appoint justices of the Constitutional Court also violated the constitution and led to the expansion of the controversy, so he should be removed from his post.
Previously, it was expected that the Constitutional Court would mention in its ruling on Han Deok-soo whether the emergency martial law order violated the constitution, providing a reference for the ruling on Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment case. However, the court did not mention this issue in Monday's ruling. The Constitutional Court's trial of Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment case has exceeded 100 days, and the sentencing date has not been announced yet.
Han Deok-soo testified as a key witness in the court debate of Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment case.
Han Deok-soo revealed during the trial that Yoon Suk-yeol once asked him to attend the "Trade Day" memorial event hosted by the Korea International Trade Association on his behalf. This event was two days after Yoon Suk-yeol announced the martial law, which also raised questions about whether the martial law would last more than two days. Yoon Suk-yeol once said during the debate that the martial law was a warning and was planned to end within half a day.
Han Deok-soo denied that he had heard Yoon Suk-yeol say that "the martial law would be lifted within half a day" and pointed out that when Yoon Suk-yeol was about to announce the martial law, all state councilors expressed concerns and tried to dissuade him. Han Deok-soo believed that the judicial institution should judge whether the state council meeting before the martial law complied with the procedures, but he admitted that the meeting had flaws.
After resuming his duties as Prime Minister and Acting President, Han Deok-soo delivered a speech, warning that extreme social division would endanger the whole of South Korea. He called on the ruling and opposition parties to strengthen cross - party cooperation and announced that the current focus of work would be on dealing with the trade war with the United States.
Choi Sang-mok only appointed two of the three candidates for Constitutional Court justices nominated by the National Assembly. Ma Eun-hyeok, another justice nominated by the largest opposition Democratic Party, has not been appointed. The Democratic Party has initiated an impeachment motion against Choi Sang-mok in the National Assembly. When asked by others whether he would appoint Ma Eun-hyeok later, Han Deok-soo did not give a response.
The Constitutional Court should originally have nine justices, and six justices' support is required to rule Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment case valid. At the time of the emergency martial law order incident, there were only six justices in the Constitutional Court. The opposition parties accused Choi Sang-mok and Han Deok-soo of refusing to appoint replacement justices to reduce the possibility of Yoon Suk-yeol's case being ruled valid.
