South Korean Prime Minister Han Dak took office as representative president on Monday after the country's constitutional court overturned the parliamentary ammo each. However, the ruling has done little to tell the political stability of a country that is surged from crisis to crisis.
Han briefly served as South Korea's representative president after Congress fired off on December 14th, and took Yoon in office in connection with a failed attempt to deploy the country under martial law. Han had played his role less than two weeks ago when Congress fired him each.
The Constitutional Court has yet to announce when it will rule over whether to drive away or reinstall Yoon. This is a much more important decision that Koreans will wait weeks with growing anxiety. If Yoon is fired, South Korea will elect a new president within 60 days. If he is returned to office, he will face an unprecedentedly fractured country than the presidency.
The Constitutional Court has final say on whether officials each ammo has been officially removed or reinstalled by Congress. The Monday ruling will come into effect immediately and cannot be appealed.
Han quickly returned to his duties and replaced Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, the next official of the government class that had doubled the acting president. However, the country still has no elected leader as it faces North Korea's nuclear threat and global tariffs it says President Trump will impose in the coming weeks.
When the parliament fired Han each, it accused him of cooperating in what he called Yun's declaration of martial law. Han also said he violated his constitutional obligations by refusing to appoint three constitutional court court judiciary appointed by Congress. Han denied the charges.
In a court ruling Monday, only one of eight justice supported Han's appointment. At least six justice votes are required to remove each of the officials. Otherwise they will be resurrected.
The court said it had found no evidence that Han played a role in Yoon's martial law. Han claims he is unaware of Yun's plans until the night the president declares it. When Han first heard it, he expressed his opposition to Yun, saying it would undermine the country's economy and its international reputation.
Han was the first representative president in South Korean history to be fired each.
Four Justice said that Han's refusal to appoint justice for the three Constitutional Courts appointed to Congress is a violation of the constitution and related laws, but the violation was not as serious as it deserves his removal. Only one justice said it was serious enough.
When Yun was fired each, there were only six justices in the Supreme Court, but three vacancies had been filled by opposition-controlled parliament. Opposition parties accused Han of refusing to approve Congressional candidates in an attempt to improve the likelihood that Yun would take office, regardless of how many judicial officers there were in the court, as his removal would require six votes.
Choi, who succeeded Han as representative president, later appointed two of the three judges, leaving only one vacant seat in the court, which normally had nine members.
“I would like to thank the Constitutional Court for a wise decision,” Han said when he resumed his official duties 88 days later.
He called on South Korea to overcome political polarization, so that Trump's inauguration could better deal with “hegemonic hegemonic competition between the US and China and a new geopolitical upheaval.”
“If we've witnessed and clearly learned over the past few years, a highly polarized society can't achieve its dreams and only meet misery,” he said.
Monday's ruling provided no clues as to how the court would control Mr. Yun's case. But it was the latest twist in a political drama that has held Korea over months.
Yoon's presidency was characterized by deepening the conflict between his office and the National Assembly. Yoon rejected a record number of the bill, and Congress voted to each more government officials than the previous Congress.
Yoon's People Power Party leader Kwon Young-se welcomed the court's ruling as “a harsh warning against legislative violence committed by the enormous opposition parties.”
But Lee Jae-myeon, the main opposition leader, said that only when Yoon takes office could South Korea “end the chaos and restore normalcy.”
