Kwon Seong-dong: "South Korea's Impeachment Motion Fundamentally Invalid... Requested Suspension of Choi Sang-mok's Constitutional Court Justice Appointment"

The Democratic Party's Request for Jurisdictional Dispute Adjudication and Provisional Injunction
Regarding Korea's Acceptance of Job Suspension, "They Must Have Considered It Comprehensively"

Kwon Seong-dong, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, requested Choi Sang-mok, Acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, to withhold the appointment of Constitutional Court justices following the passage of the impeachment motion against Han Deok-su, Acting President and Prime Minister, whose duties have been suspended.

Yonhap News

After the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 27th, Acting Leader Kwon told reporters, "The Democratic Party's resolution of the impeachment motion against Acting President Han is fundamentally invalid as it did not meet the required two-thirds quorum." He added, "Our party has filed a constitutional dispute trial and a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of the National Assembly's resolution on the impeachment motion against Acting President Han with the Constitutional Court, asserting that the resolution is fundamentally invalid." He emphasized, "We demand that the Constitutional Court promptly commence hearings and reach a conclusion on this critical issue."

When asked whether the impeachment motion passed against Acting President Han, which was approved in the National Assembly that day, should maintain the Acting President's authority since it concerns the Prime Minister, Kwon responded, "Han's status itself is Acting President and Prime Minister." He explained, "The most important reason cited for impeachment is the withholding of the appointment of Constitutional Court justices, and as Prime Minister, he cannot appoint Constitutional Court justices."

He continued, "Because he is Acting President, the issue of appointing Constitutional Court justices is controversial," and explained, "Therefore, this is an impeachment against the Acting President, and no matter how much the Democratic Party and Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly, insist that it is an impeachment against the Prime Minister, it does not hold."

Park Soo-min, spokesperson for the People Power Party floor, regarding Han's acceptance of the National Assembly's impeachment motion and suspension of duties, said, "We firmly believe that the National Assembly's resolution itself is fundamentally invalid and that he should continue his duties. However, unfortunately, we think he must have considered the situation comprehensively."

Regarding some members voting differently from the party line in the plenary session that day, she said, "We believe the quorum for the resolution was not met, so the vote was invalid," and added, "We do not think it is necessary to scrutinize such details."

When asked whether the party plans to cooperate with the appointment since some, including the Supreme Court, have expressed opinions that Acting President Han can appoint Constitutional Court justices, Park responded, "We are always open. However, the authority of the Acting President during suspension of duties is not to actively exercise the President's inherent powers but to act conservatively according to basic principles." She added, "It is not a matter to be judged based on convenience or interests at each moment, and we believe it should be judged safely and conservatively according to precedent."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.