The South Korean Democratic Party’s floor leader warned acting President Han Duck-soo that if he does not immediately appoint Judge Ma Eun-hyuk, it would be grounds for impeachment. Just a day after the Constitutional Court reinstated Han by dismissing his impeachment, the party is already threatening to impeach him again. While the court ruled that delaying Ma’s appointment was illegal, it dismissed the impeachment, warning that removing the acting president could cause serious political and national turmoil. Some judges even ruled that the delay was not illegal. Despite this, the Democratic Party insists it can impeach Han again, openly ignoring the court’s decision.
Of the 13 impeachment motions pushed by the party, nine have been ruled on, and all were dismissed. These cases averaged just 2.2 hearings before being thrown out. Han and Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choe Jae-hae’s cases were dismissed after a single session. This highlights how rushed and politically driven these impeachments were. In the process, nine officials were suspended from duty for an average of five months. Korea Communications Commission Chairperson Lee Jin-sook was impeached just two days into her term and sidelined for 174 days, leaving the agency paralyzed.
Now, the Democratic Party is going after Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, claiming he has “even more serious grounds for impeachment” than Han. This suggests they may use Ma’s delayed appointment as an excuse to target Choi next. Since the court ruled that an acting president can be impeached with a simple majority, the Democratic Party could move against Choi at any time. While calling for action on economic crises and wildfires, they are working to remove the key official in charge. The party blames Choi for political turmoil, but who is really responsible?
The Democratic Party has now proposed impeachment 30 times. Despite losing all nine cases ruled on so far, no party leader has reflected or apologized. Instead of admitting fault, they are now threatening to impeach Han again and even remove the deputy prime minister.
