South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party of Korea warned that if the government does not immediately appoint Ma Eun-hyuk as the new Constitutional Court justice, 70 of its first-term lawmakers will oust top officials with a sweeping series of cabinet impeachments. The move, which includes the impeachment of Acting President Han Duck-soo for the second time, has drawn fierce backlash from the ruling People Power Party.
The ruling party denounced the opposition’s demands as a “parliamentary coup” and announced plans to press charges against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and political commentator Kim Ou-joon.
“The Democratic Party’s impeachment push is an insurrectionary plot ordered by Kim Ou-joon and approved by Lee Jae-myung,” said People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong during a press conference on March 29. He called the threat to impeach the entire cabinet a “grave breach of constitutional order,” warning that efforts to paralyze the executive branch amounted to treason. Kweon argued that the Democratic Party is attempting to reshape the bench in its favor amid delays in the Constitutional Court’s verdict on President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment, which some speculate may be dismissed or rejected.
The Democratic Party’s first-term lawmakers, dubbed “The Mincho,” threatened that if Ma Eun-hyuk is not appointed as court justice by March 30, they would again seek to impeach Acting President Han. They also pledged to impeach any cabinet members who succeeded Han as interim president and still failed to appoint Ma. Kim Eo-joon fanned the flames on his YouTube channel earlier that day, urging Democratic Party lawmaker No Jong-myeon to consider impeaching “everyone who opposed Ma Eun-hyuk’s appointment.”
The People Power Party seized on the comment, calling it evidence of behind-the-scenes collusion. The Mincho’s leadership committee rebuked the allegations as “outright lies and delusions,” vowing to take legal action in response. Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae added that if Ma is not appointed by April 1, the party would “make a serious decision.”
The Democratic Party has been urging the Constitutional Court to issue a swift ruling on President Yoon’s impeachment and has demanded that the acting president immediately appoint Ma Eun-hyuk as court justice. The delay in the court’s verdict has raised concerns that it may extend beyond April 18, when the terms of Constitutional Court Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mison are set to expire, further complicating the situation.
First-term lawmakers from the People Power Party also held a press conference on March 30, stating, “The Democratic Party’s abuse of its parliamentary majority needs to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court as grounds for dissolving the party.”
