“Under South Korean law, the finance minister will act as president”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
He served as acting president after President Yoon Seok-yeol was impeached on December 14 due to the imposition of martial law.
192 deputies out of 300 members of parliament voted for Khan’s impeachment.
Khan’s impeachment means he will be stripped of his powers and duties as president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. The court is already considering whether to confirm Yoon’s previous impeachment.
Under South Korean law, the acting president will be Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.
The main opposition Democratic Party moved to impeach Han after he failed to immediately appoint three judges to fill the panel of judges at the Constitutional Court that is expected to impeach President Yun.
The question of the president’s impeachment was raised in parliament after Yoon Seok-yeol announced on December 3 the introduction of a state of emergency “in order to fight against internal supporters of the DPRK.”
The decree, which was valid for six hours, prohibited the work of political parties, protests, strikes, introduced censorship and military field tribunals with the right to issue the death sentence. This caused large-scale protests both on the streets of Seoul and in the parliament. Deputies simply voted to cancel the president’s decision during the storming of the building by the military. After that, he was forced by law to cancel the decree.
On December 7, the president apologized for his actions on television. Key officials, including Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, resigned.
On December 12, Yoon rejected the mutiny charge and said the imposition of martial law was a “deeply vetted political decision.” He also rejected calls to resign and accused the opposition of abusing impeachment.