South Korea's opposition said it has submitted a motion to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo after he refused to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court to finalize the process of removing his predecessor from office.
South Korea has been plunged into political crisis since President Yoon Suk Yeol – who is currently suspended from office – declared martial law on December 3.
Because of this, Yoon was stripped of his duties as president by Parliament on December 14, but the Constitutional Court must now uphold the lawmakers' decision in order to complete the impeachment process.
However, Han has refused to appoint three judges to complete the nine-member Constitutional Court, which are needed to move ahead with the process to remove Yoon.
The opposition party, the Democratic Party, said that for this reason it is now demanding that Han be fired.
"We have raised the motion... we will notify Parliament about it today," lawmaker Park Sung-joon told reporters.
"The motion will be voted on tomorrow."
Han's refusal to appoint the three judges proves that he is "unwilling or unqualified to respect the Constitution," said Democratic Party Parliamentary Caucus Chairman Park Chan-dae.
If the court were to proceed with the impeachment process without appointing three justices, all six current justices would have to agree unanimously to remove Yoon as president. Without such unanimity, Yoon would return to the post of president.
Han has said he will certify the appointment of judges only after the ruling party, the People's Power Party and the opposition reach a compromise on the nominated judges.
If the opposition motion passes during Friday's session, it would be the first time in South Korea's history that the country's parliament has voted to impeach an acting president. If this scenario happens, then Han would be replaced by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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