 "South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from right, became the country's acting leader after President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment. AP")
After the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, now South Korean lawmakers want to remove acting president Han Duck-soo.
Han, who is the Prime Minister of South Korea, took over the president’s powers after Yoon was impeached nearly two weeks ago.
Executive power in South Korea remains with the president, but the prime minister leads the country if the president becomes incapacitated for any reason.
If Yan is impeached too then the finance minister would take over.
But who is Han? And why do South Korean MPs want to impeach him too?
Let’s take a closer look:
Who is Han?
According to The Guardian, Han is a career technocrat.
The 75-year-old has been prime minister since 2022.
This is Han’s second stint in the office.
He previously served as prime minister under then liberal president Roh Moo-hyun in 2007-2008.
Han has held leadership roles in South Korean governments for over three decades.
He has served five presidents liberal and conservative alike.
This includes including Roh, Kim Dae-jung and Lee Myung-bak – under whom Han was South Korean ambassador to the United States.
As per Mint, Han worked closely with top US officials including Joe Biden, who was at the time Vice-President, to bring the countries closer together.
Han also previously served as finance minister, trade minister, presidential secretary for policy coordination, ambassador to the OECD, and head of various thinktanks and organisations.
Han has a Harvard doctorate in economics.
His knowledge of the economy, trade and diplomacy as well as his fame for rationality, moderate demeanour and hard work is why he is constantly sought after in South Korean politics, as per The Guardian.
“He is a civil servant through and through who didn’t take on a political colour despite working under [five presidents],” a former high-ranking government official said.
Yoon , appointing Han in 2022, said he was “the right person” to lead his Cabinet citing his vast administrative experience at a time when South Korea faces “grave environments” at home and abroad.
“He has served in key posts in state affairs solely through recognition of his skills and expertise, unrelated to political factions,” Yoon said in 2022 as per The Guardian.
“I think Han is the right candidate to carry out national affairs while overseeing and coordinating the cabinet, with a wealth of experience that encompasses public and private sectors.”
Han at the time said he feels both honoured and burdened by the nomination.
As per Mint, Han is fluent in English and is known across the world.
He has served on the board of the private firm S-oil – an affiliate of petrol giant Saudi Aramco.
Why do they want to impeach him?
There are several reasons why the opposition wants to impeach Han.
According to BBC, Han has refused to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court nominated by the opposition Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, had urged Han to quickly fill vacancies on the court which will determine Yoon’s ultimate fate.
The court can decided to dismiss Yoon or reinstate him.
“Han has revealed himself to be an acting insurrectionist, not an acting president”, DP’s floor leader Park Chan-dae was quoted as saying.
Filling the Constitutional Court’s three empty posts could make conviction more likely, as it requires the support of six of the court’s possible full nine members.
The Democratic Party had also demanded independent investigators for a probe into Yoon over the martial law decree and his wife for corruption and other allegations.
The opposition was also upset with Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill.
The party had set Han a deadline of Tuesday for passing the bills.
However, Han on Tuesday did not reviewing either the bill demanding a probe into Yoon and his wife or the agriculture bill.
Han on Thursday yet again declined to appoint the constitution court judges.
Han claimed he did this to give the ruling and opposition parties more time to reach a compromise.
He said he would only do so when the parties arrived at a consensus.
“The consistent spirit reflected in our Constitution and laws is that an acting president should focus on maintaining stability in governance to help the country overcome crisis while refraining from exercising significant powers exclusive to the president, including appointments to constitutional institutions,” Han said as per Washington Post. “I will withhold the appointment of Constitutional Court justices until the ruling and opposition parties submit an agreed-upon proposal.”
However, Park accused Han of “buying time and prolonging the insurrection”.
“We’ve clearly warned that it’s totally up to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo whether he would go down in history as a disgraceful figure, as a puppet of rebellion plot leader Yoon Suk Yeol, or a public servant that has faithfully carried out the orders by the public,” Park said.
Park said, “it has become clear that Han Duck-soo is neither qualified nor willing to defend the constitution.”
He added that the opposition would “immediately” table the impeachment bill against Han, as per BBC.
According to Washington Post, the impeachment against Han could occur as soon as tomorrow (December 27.)
The impeachment vote against Han could also stoke further controversy.
While the Democratic Party has 170 of the 300 seats in parliament and the opposition has 192 seats altogether, impeaching presidents requires two-thirds of a vote in the National Assembly.
Yoon, remember, was only impeached after MPs from the ruling People Power Party crossed over.
The parties also disagree about how many votes would be required to impeach an acting president – a two-thirds majority or a simple majority like most other officials.
The opposition has also accused Han of aiding Yoon’s martial law attempt on December 3.
Han earlier apologised for failing to block it.
The governing People Power Party said that the opposition’s impeachment threats are interfering with Han’s “legitimate exercise of authority.”
Floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, a Yoon loyalist, said the Democratic Party’s “politics of intimidation have reached their peak.”
South Korean prosecutors and other officials are separately probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he’s ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon’s decree.
With inputs from agencies