About three months after an impeachment and suspension, South Korea’s Constitutional Court reinstated Han Duck-soo as the acting president of South Korea.
The opposition Democratic Party impeached him last December, about two weeks after being appointed, for not assigning three more justices to the Constitutional Court and supporting counsel bills that target the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and the first lady, Kim Keon Hee.
On February 19, Han attended the hearing and denied any role that supported the martial law Yoon imposed. A month after, the Constitutional Court decided to strike down the impeachment after seven out of eight justices ruled against the motion.
Five justices stated that Han did not violate the constitution despite considering the impeachment motion valid. Two justices ruled that the motion was invalid since less than two-thirds of lawmakers passed it. Only one justice voted to impeach him.
Han had served under five presidents for more than 30 years and was appointed as the prime minister in 2022 under Yoon’s administration. He will now replace Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who took over after the impeachment, as the acting president.
