South Korea’s Constitutional Court resumed Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo’s acting presidency on Monday, pledging to focus on guiding the impropriety of Asia’s fourth-largest economy through the U.S. trade war.
The ruling came amid months of political turmoil in the country, and the ruling immediately returned to Hann. He took over as acting leader of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who himself was impeached for a brief hit on martial law in December.
“I believe people are very clear in a voice that political extreme confrontation must stop,” Han said.
“As acting president, I will do my best to maintain a stable national government and devote all my wisdom and capabilities to protect the national interests in the trade war,” Han said in a televised comment.
South Korea is one of the world’s top exporters and has been placing the potential impact of a series of threats to tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump.
South Korea has seen our tariffs on steel and aluminum and has been seeking to exempt U.S. tariffs for next month. Earlier this month, Trump picked South Korea out of the way for high tariffs on U.S. exports.
Yoon’s martial law announcement has put America’s major military allies in the biggest political crisis in decades and has sparked a leadership vacuum, an explosion of bomb impulses, resignations and criminal prosecutions against a series of senior officials.
Han initially lasted for less than two weeks in the position and was impulsed and suspended after clashing with the opposition-led parliament on December 27, refusing to appoint three other judges to the Constitutional Court.
The justice in the court ruled on Monday one in seventh of the day to strike each.
The eight justices said the impeachment motion was valid, but there was no sufficient reason to impeach each because he did not violate the constitution or the law.
Two judges ruled that the impeachment motion against Han’s acting president at the time was invalid from the outset because two-thirds of the members of the parliament failed.
A justice voted for the bombing.
Han, 75, has held leadership positions among five presidents (conservatives and liberals) for more than thirty years.
In a country severely divided by partisan rhetoric, Han is seen as a rare official with a partisan clue to his diverse career.
Nevertheless, the opposition-led parliament accused him of not doing enough to stop the Messian from deciding to announce martial arts, an allegation he denied.
South Korea’s parliament voted on Saturday for impeachment President Yoon Suk Yeol, his brief martial arts decree, a historic condemnation that was cheered by cheering crowds who described the results as another moment of resistance in the country’s resistant democratic journey.
Lee Jae-Myung, head of the opposition Democratic Party, said the Han ruling must be accepted, but urged the Constitutional Court to quickly decide on the impeachment of the President of the Yuan Dynasty.
The court is expected to rule within a few days, although its deliberations are delayed longer than expected. Yoon also faces another criminal trial for proclaiming a martial law leading uprising.
If removed from office, a new presidential election will be held within 60 days.
“The ongoing delay in the court’s ruling has attracted attention and conflict… We can now predict that the situation transcends the psychological civil war and becomes an actual civil war,” Lee said.
South Korea, with support from the support of the Yuan Dynasty, has seen huge, mostly peaceful rally and called on him to evacuate in recent months.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-Mok had served as acting president, while the Constitutional Court considered Yoon and Han’s cases.
On December 3, 2024, martial law was unexpectedly imposed by martial arts, and the ensuing political unrest triggered a shock wave through South Korea and attracted the attention of allies such as current U.S. President Joe Biden, who once viewed Yoon as a major partner with China as a major partner in opposition to China and North Korea.
The martial law ended up lasting only about six hours, when lawmakers violated the security cordon around Parliament and voted to reject the declaration.
