Two Presidents impeached in South Korea within two week

The South Korean Parliament has impeached two presidents within two weeks, plunging the country into political and economic turmoil. Acting President Han Duck-soo was impeached by the South Korean Parliament on 27 December 2024. Han became the first acting President of the country to be impeached since democracy was introduced in the country in 1987. 

Han Duck-soo was sworn in as the acting President of South Korea on 14 December 2024 after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the South Korean Parliament. 

The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Choi Sang-mok has been appointed as the new interim leader of South Korea.

The South Korean Parliament is a unicameral legislature with a 300-member National Assembly. The opposition parties have a majority in the National Assembly. 

According to the South Korean constitution, the impeachment of  Han Duck-soo needs to be confirmed by the South Korean Constitutional Court within 180 days otherwise it will fail. 

Reason for Impeachment of Han Duck-soo

The opposition parties filed an impeachment motion against the acting President  Han Duck-soo after he refused to appoint three additional judges chosen by the Parliament to the Korean Constitutional Court.

• According to the South Korean constitution, a president when impeached by the Parliament must be upheld by the Constitutional Court within 180 days.
• The Constitutional Court consists of nine judges and it needs to rule by a majority, that is six judges, to uphold the impeachment. 
• The Constitutional Court at present has six members and even if one Judge gave a ruling against the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol then his impeachment will be overruled and he will be restored to his office.
• Thus the opposition-led Parliament recommended the acting President to appoint three new Judges to the Korean Constitutional Court.
• The acting president refused to appoint the three new judges as he said that the country needed a bipartisan consensus on this issue.

Impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol

President Yoon Suk Yeol of the People’s Power Party imposed martial law in the country on the night of 3rd December 2024 and had to revoke it within six hours after the opposition-controlled Parliament passed a resolution against it in the early morning of 4 December 2024.

According to President Yeol, he imposed an emergency to protect the country from’ anti-state forces’.

President was later impeached by the South Korean Parliament which is controlled by the opposition parties on 14 December.

Republic of Korea or South Korea 

The Republic of Korea or South Korea is situated in the Korean Peninsula in Asia. 

It came into existence in August 1948 after the partition of the Korean peninsula into South and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).

It is a highly industrialised country and the fourth largest economy in Asia after China, Japan, and India.

Capital: Seoul

Currency: South Korean Won

Acting President: Choi Sang-mok

Know about 6-hour Martial Law in South Korea