When Prime Minister Han Deok-soo returned as acting president following the Constitutional Court’s rejection of the impeachment trial on the 24th, major foreign media outlets urgently struck it.
The Associated Press reported, “The Korean Constitutional Court overturned Prime Minister Han’s impeachment and reinstated the second-in-command in state affairs. Seven out of eight judges of the Constitutional Court rejected or rejected Prime Minister Han’s impeachment.”
He also added, “The Constitutional Court has not yet concluded the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol,” adding, “Early presidential elections may be held depending on future decisions, and President Yoon may return to his duties.”
“Since Prime Minister Han is not a key figure in President Yoon’s decision to declare martial law, the dismissal of his impeachment will not have a significant impact on President Yoon’s impeachment trial,” he predicted.
“The two months of political turmoil caused by the impeachment of the acting president have marked a turning point,” Reuters said.
As for Prime Minister Han, he said, “I have served as a major public official under five presidents, both conservative and progressive, for more than 30 years. It has been regarded as a rare case of building a diverse career across party lines in a clearly divided Korea.”
“The opposition-led National Assembly has raised charges that Prime Minister Han did not do enough to prevent President Yoon from declaring martial law, but Han has denied this,” he said. The Washington Post (WP) pointed out that “Prime Minister Han has returned as acting president, but the Constitutional Court has not yet set a date for sentencing President Yoon.”
“Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in downtown Seoul,” the WP said. “Both sides are urging the court to decide to end the political crisis.”
“However, it does not seem easy in a deeply polarized Korean society,” he said. “The authorities are preparing for social unrest that may occur on the day of President Yoon’s sentencing.”
Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported, “With the dismissal of the impeachment against Prime Minister Han, the unusual system in which Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok acts as an acting president has ended.” He also added, “The issue of the impeachment trial against Prime Minister Han has drawn attention because it overlaps with that of President Yoon,” but added, “The Constitutional Court has not yet announced the date of Yoon’s sentence.”
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, “The opposition party pushed for impeachment for failing to block President Yoon’s declaration of emergency martial law as prime minister, but the Constitutional Court did not recognize it as a violation of the Constitution,” adding, “The ‘abnormal situation’ in which the president and the prime minister, the head of the administration, cannot work together due to the impeachment has been resolved.”
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
