Explanation – South Korea’s leadership crisis in the hands of the Constitutional Court Reuters

By Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s leadership crisis will play out at the Constitutional Court, which will decide the fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who were impeached and suspended from power due to a short-lived martial law.

Han, who was impeached on Friday, took over as acting chairman from Yoon, who was impeached on Dec. 14. Under the law, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok now becomes acting president.

Also on Friday, the court held its first hearing in the case to decide whether to reinstate Yoon or permanently remove him from power.

The ruling conservative People Power Party filed for a court injunction after the vote to impeach Han, saying a simple majority was not enough to impeach the acting president.

WHAT NEXT?

After his December 14 impeachment, Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended, but he remains in office, retaining his immunity from most charges except sedition or treason.

The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to dismiss him from office or refuse to impeach him and restore his powers. If he dismisses Yoon or he resigns, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.

Opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae, head of the House Legislature and Judiciary Committee, is leading the case for Yoon’s removal.

Yoon’s legal advisers included former Constitutional Court spokesman Bae Bo-yoon and former prosecutor Yoon Kab-keun, who appeared at Friday’s hearing.

The court is also expected to hold a hearing on whether to remove Han from office or reinstate him in his role.

OBSTACLES TO COURT VERDICT?

South Korea’s constitution requires six judges to agree to oust an impeached president. But the nine-judge court has three vacancies, so the current justices would have to vote unanimously to remove Yoon.

The court said it could deliberate and hear arguments with only six judges.

The three vacancies are to be filled by the parliament, controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party, which approved three candidates this week, even though the ruling People’s Power Party boycotted them.

However, Han refused to appoint judges without bipartisan agreement, saying that would exceed his authority as an actor.

Then the parliament under the control of the opposition impeached him.

There is precedent for an acting president to appoint a Constitutional Court judge, such as when former president Park Geun-hye was impeached in late 2016.

WHAT HAPPENS IN COURT?

In South Korea’s only previous removal of a president by impeachment, the court took three months to remove Park in 2017.

This time, the terms of two of the court’s judges expire in April, and legal experts predict a decision could be sought before then to reduce uncertainty.

On Friday, Judge Cheong Hyung-sik of the Constitutional Court said the case would be moved quickly given its gravity.

In the past, academics say, judges did not vote predictably according to political affiliations, but decided on a case-by-case basis, guided by their interpretation of the constitution.

Conservative attempts to rally popular support for Yoon are not expected to affect the court’s decision, as Park was removed from office despite continued conservative rallies to keep her in power, clashing with candlelight rallies calling for her removal.

In the case of Park, who like Yoon was from a center-right party, the court voted unanimously to remove her, including some judges considered conservative and two of Park’s appointees.

Yoon also faces criminal investigations in connection with the state of emergency decision.

If he is accused, he could ask the Constitutional Court to suspend the 180-day period from the impeachment decision. The court rejected a similar request by Park.

In 2004, then-President Roh Moo-hyun, of the center-left party, was impeached for failing to meet the political neutrality required of a high-ranking public official, but completed his five-year term after a court rejected the request within two months.