The attempt by the main opposition Democratic Party to suspend incumbent leader Han Duck-soo is plunging the country into further uncertainty.
South Korea’s parliament is expected to vote on the impeachment of its sitting president as ongoing turmoil in Asia’s fourth-largest economy sent the won plunging to levels not seen since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) is pushing for the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in a vote in the National Assembly on Friday after accusing the incumbent president of being involved in an attempted insurrection by suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol.
The DP, which holds 170 seats in the 300-member legislature, filed the impeachment motion on Thursday after Han refused to fill three vacancies on the court that will decide Yoon’s impeachment after Yoon briefly declared martial law had.
Han’s People Power Party (PPP) has argued that only the elected president has the power to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court.
At least six judges on the court must confirm Yoon’s ouster in order to remove him from office.
The court currently has just six justices after three judges retired earlier this year, meaning the bench would have to make a unanimous decision to strip Yoon of the presidency.
The court is expected to hold its first impeachment hearing against Yoon on Friday and could take up to six months to deliver its verdict.
Yoon, who has defended his declaration of martial law as lawful and aimed at combating “anti-state forces,” is also being investigated criminally on suspicion of insurrection and abuse of power.
The attempt to indict Han, less than two weeks after he took office following Yoon’s ouster, plunges South Korea into further political uncertainty as the country is still reeling under Yoon’s Dec. 4 martial law decree.
While a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly is required to remove a sitting president from office, there is no consensus on whether the same threshold applies to a sitting president.
The PPP has argued that two-thirds of lawmakers must approve Han’s impeachment.
DP claims he can be suspended if 151 MPs support impeachment, as the constitution allows for the removal of cabinet members with a simple majority.
With the DP, smaller opposition parties and independents holding 192 seats, at least eight PPP MPs would need to cross the aisle to reach the two-thirds threshold.
If Han is indicted, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will assume presidential duties.
Choi warned Friday that Han’s impeachment would be a serious blow to the country’s economic situation and urged the opposition to reconsider its request.
“The economy and people’s livelihoods are skating on thin ice under the national state of emergency, and they cannot deal with the greater political uncertainty resulting from another sitting president taking over the incumbent presidency,” Choi said.
The South Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar on Friday, falling below 1,480 won for the first time since March 2009.
