Seoul [South Korea], December 24 : The main opposition in the South Korean assembly, the Democratic Party (DP), on Tuesday announced that it will delay its plan to introduce the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo who refused to promulgate two special counsel bills targeting former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former first lady Kim Keon Hee, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
Initially, the DP planned to introduce the motion on Tuesday evening (local time) but decided to postpone it for two days to see if Han would appoint Constitutional Court justices after the motions for their appointments are passed during Thursday's plenary session, according to DP floor leader Representative Park Chan-dae.
"We have decided to wait with patience to see whether our demands are implemented on Thursday," Park said as quoted by Yonhap News Agency, emphasising that Thursday is the final opportunity for Han to act.
"Thursday is the last opportunity. Acting President Han should uphold the people's order and actively cooperate in ending insurrection," he added, adding that if Han does not cooperate, the impeachment motion will be reported to the National Assembly on Friday, as reported by the Yonhap News Agency.
Under the law, an impeachment motion must be voted on between 24 and 72 hours after it is reported in a plenary session. While a two-thirds majority is needed to impeach the president, a simple majority is sufficient for senior officials.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has argued that Han should be treated as the president in the impeachment vote, while the DP insists that he should be considered as the prime minister. PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong reiterated his party's stance, criticising the DP for planning the impeachment motion after DP leader Lee Jae-myung had previously promised not to push for Han's impeachment, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The DP's decision to consider impeachment came after a Cabinet meeting led by Han ended without reviewing the two bills related to special counsel investigations into Yoon's brief martial law declaration and Kim's corruption allegations. Park claimed that Han's inaction could be seen as a delay tactic to extend the alleged insurrection.
The DP had earlier warned it would move to impeach Han if he failed to sign the bills into law on Tuesday but was now considering waiting to see if Han takes action on appointing Constitutional Court justices. There are currently three vacancies on the bench of nine judges as it prepares to hear the impeachment trial of Yoon over his martial law declaration.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-Shik criticised Han's delay in deciding on the bills and the court appointments, calling for bipartisan negotiations to reach a compromise. He stated that the special counsel investigations were a public demand and that the decision was ultimately Han's. Regarding the court appointments, Woo insisted that the choice of justices should not be politically negotiated.
"The special counsel investigations are a demand of the people...Whether he demands reconsideration or accepts them, that is a decision for the acting president to make," Woo said as quoted by Yonhap News Agency.
"Appointing Constitutional Court justices chosen by the National Assembly is not a subject of political negotiation," Woo added.
However, a senior official from the Prime Minister's Office expressed regret over the DP's impeachment threat, urging them to reconsider their stance.