South Korea acting president Han Duck Soo impeached less than 2 weeks after taking office

South Korea's parliament voted on Dec. 27, 2024, to impeach South Korea's acting president Han Duck Soo.

Han took over as acting president after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached on Dec. 14, following his attempt to "declare martial law" in South Korea on Dec. 3.

With Han impeached, Finance Minister Choi Sang Mok looks to assume the role of acting president.

Move to impeach the acting president

South Korea's main opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP), filed a motion on Dec. 26 to impeach the country's acting president and acting leader, Han Duck-soo.

The opposition party had moved to impeach Han due to his refusal to appoint three justices to complete the constitutional court's nine-member bench, reported Korean news agency Yonhap.

There are currently only six justices serving on the constitutional court.

This would pose a challenge for a successful removal of Yoon, as a ruling to remove him from office needs support from six justices.

As there are only six of them at the moment, this means just one dissenting voice would be enough to allow Yoon to remain in power.

Han had also refused to review two opposition-sponsored bills that called for investigations into the declaration of martial law and alleged corruption by First Lady Kim Keon Hee, according to the BBC.

DP's party leader Park Chan Dae coined Han's actions as "prolonging the insurrection, adding that Han "is neither qualified nor willing to defend the constitution."

Confusion over votes required

According to CNA, there was some amount of confusion before the parliamentary session on Dec. 27 as to the number of votes required to impeach Han.

Typically, 200 votes are needed to impeach a president.

However, just before the vote on Dec. 27, parliamentary Speaker Woo Won Shik clarified that just a simple majority - 151 votes - would be required to impeach the acting president Han.

Representatives of Han's party protested this and left the chamber. All the opposition representatives, 192 of them, voted to impeach Han.

After the vote, Han said he would respect it and step aside.

Top photo from Han Duck Soo/Facebook.