South Korea’s Acting President Reinstated as Court Dismisses Impeachment

Acting President Han Duck-soo was standing in for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had also been impeached by the National Assembly.

Acting South Korean President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivers an address to the nation at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 14, 2024. Yonhap via Reuters

The South Korean Constitutional Court has dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him to the post of acting president on March 24.

The court’s eight sitting justices voted 7–1 against the impeachment. Han thanked the court for its “wise decision,” and said he will get to “urgent matters first.”

“As acting president, I will do my best to maintain stable state administration, and devote all wisdom and capabilities to safeguard national interests in the trade war,” Han said in televised comments.

He also called for national unity, saying: “There’s no left or right. What matters is the advancement of our nation.”

Han became acting president on Dec. 14, 2024, when the opposition-led National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.

Then Han was separately impeached on Dec. 27 in a National Assembly vote for refusing to comply with parliamentary demands. He had declined to advance the opposition’s motion to fill three vacancies on the nine-seat Constitutional Court, as the court’s six justices did not meet the quorum of seven required for deliberation.

Han cited political bias in the candidates nominated by the National Assembly, where the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) holds a majority. The acting president had asked the DPK to propose candidates who could gain consensus from the ruling People Power Party.

Four justices said Han’s refusal to appoint justices to the court violated the law and the Constitution but said “there is no reason to justify his dismissal.” One other justice among the seven who cleared Han of wrongdoing said the acting president wasn’t obligated to appoint the justices immediately, and therefore his actions could not be considered illegal or unconstitutional.

Han was also impeached over his alleged role in Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law decree that the opposition said aimed to incite a riot to subvert the constitutional order. The high court said it found no evidence to support the allegations against him. “No objective evidence can be found,” the opinion reads.

Justice Jeong Gye-seon said in her dissenting opinion that Han’s failure to promptly appoint a justice to the court and to recommend a candidate as special prosecutor for a sedition investigation into Yoon was illegal and that the unconstitutional actions warranted his removal from office.

After Han was impeached by the Assembly 192–108, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok became acting president. Choi appointed two of the DPK’s named justices but withheld the third—progressive-leaning Justice Ma Eun-hyuk—citing a lack of bipartisan support.

In response, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling on Feb. 27, saying that Choi’s non-appointment infringed on the National Assembly’s rights. However, the court did not direct Choi to appoint Ma.

The Constitutional Court is also tasked with deliberating and determining whether Yoon will be impeached over his Dec. 3 order. Its ruling, expected as soon as March 28, will decide whether Yoon remains president and whether South Koreans must vote in a snap election within 60 days of the decision.

Yoon has pushed back against the charges, saying he made the “grave” decision to declare martial law in order to send out his urgent message about a political crisis to the South Korean people.

Yoon has also made allegations that the nation’s election systems are at risk of hacking by foreign adversaries, such as North Korea. The National Election Commission (NEC) has dismissed the concerns, saying any manipulation of election results would require extensive collusion with internal actors, which is unlikely.

The NEC agreed to cybersecurity checks in 2023 after the National Intelligence Service said vulnerabilities in its systems remain. The commission maintains that its systems are secure and has said that Yoon’s allegations of election fraud are baseless.