Important Takeaways:
- Lawmakers on Friday passed a motion to impeach Han Duck-soo, who is also the prime minister, after he resisted pressure to appoint three justices to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court.
- It marks the first time an acting president has been impeached in South Korea and comes less than two weeks after President Yoon Suk Yeol was suspended from his duties after his failed attempt to impose martial law shook the nation.
- Han’s impeachment vote came as the Constitutional Court opened hearings on Yoon’s impeachment over his short-lived attempt to reinstate military rule this month. The court has six months to decide whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or reinstate him.
- Impeaching the prime minister requires a simple majority in parliament, but the ruling party claimed that the voting results were invalid and filed an injunction against Han’s impeachment, arguing that the two-thirds majority needed to impeach a president should also apply to acting presidents.
- Han said he respected the parliament’s decision and would wait for the Constitutional Court’s ruling on whether to confirm his impeachment.
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