Woo Won-sik "Choi Sang-mok and Ma Eun-hyuk must be appointed... Will the Acting President ignore the Constitutional Court's decision?"

Urgent Press Conference Calls for Appointment
On Yoon's Impeachment: "Must Reaffirm Commitment to Uphold the Constitution"

Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik urged Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister兼 Minister of Economy and Finance, to finalize the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court Justice, whose appointment has been delayed despite the Constitutional Court's ruling on the 12th. This was a warning about the dangers of not complying with the Constitutional Court's decision, starting with Acting President Choi, ahead of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial.

At an emergency press conference held at the National Assembly that day, Speaker Woo said, "Immediately appoint the Constitutional Court Justice elected by the National Assembly," adding, "This is the constitutional duty of the Acting President."

He pointed out, "The Constitutional Court ruled that the President, the Prime Minister acting on behalf of the President, and Cabinet members cannot arbitrarily refuse or selectively appoint the person elected by the National Assembly as a Justice, and that non-appointment is not permissible," adding, "Even today, two weeks after the Constitutional Court's decision, this constitutional duty has not been fulfilled."

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Speaker Woo criticized, "Failure to comply with the Constitutional Court's decision is a betrayal of the constitutional duty to uphold the Constitution sworn by public officials and an act against the Constitution," adding, "It cannot be seen otherwise than as a denial and contempt of the unconstitutional status of the legislature and the Constitutional Court, and their constitutional positions." He also pointed out that this exacerbates national instability. Seemingly aware that Acting President Choi was the head of the economic sector, Woo said, "The person responsible for South Korea's economy, who understands the principles of economic management better than anyone, is doing something that should never be done."

He continued, "Regardless of the Constitutional Court's decision on the presidential impeachment trial, South Korea must move on to the next stage in that state," and said, "The Acting President, who is at the highest point of authority and must comply with the Constitution and laws, should be cautious of the consequences that ignoring the Constitutional Court's decision could bring."

Regarding President Yoon's impeachment, Speaker Woo said at the press conference, "The presidential impeachment trial is a national misfortune, but it is an inevitable process to uphold constitutional order," and urged, "Even if opinions differ, the fundamental value of the impeachment trial?the protection of constitutional order?must never be compromised." He added, "We are paying a huge social cost to protect the Constitution, but if acts denying constitutional order continue during this process, it will bring even more disastrous consequences to the community called South Korea," and requested, "I ask all state institutions and public officials to clearly reaffirm their commitment to uphold the Constitution."

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