People Power Party Applies for Constitutional Adjudication and Injunction Against Han Duck-soo's Impeachment Motion

The People Power Party announced on the 27th that it has filed for a constitutional adjudication and an injunction against the impeachment motion of Acting President Han Duck-soo, which was passed in the National Assembly.

The People Power Party stated that immediately after the impeachment motion against Acting President Han was passed, it submitted a request for a constitutional adjudication and an injunction application to the Constitutional Court's civil service office. The applicants include 108 individuals such as Acting Representative and Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong, and the respondent is National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.

The People Power Party argued that the grounds for impeachment against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo do not meet the constitutional requirements for impeachment, and that there are no legal or constitutional violations in the grounds for impeachment itself. They stated, "The actions such as exercising the veto on bills, opposing the deliberation of martial law in the State Council, and delaying the appointment of a Constitutional Court judge as Acting President were legitimately performed duties according to the Constitution and laws, and cannot be considered grounds for impeachment."

Furthermore, they criticized, "Despite Prime Minister Han Duck-soo holding the status of Acting President, the respondent did not apply the aggravated impeachment quorum equivalent to that of the President to the impeachment motion, which is a significant unconstitutional interpretation." They added, "Such actions by the respondent infringe upon the applicants' rights to deliberate and vote on the impeachment motion, and undermine the representation of the people."

They concluded, "The respondent's actions are null and void, significantly infringing upon the applicants' rights to represent the people and to deliberate and vote on the impeachment motion, and require a declaration of nullity and suspension of effect due to violations of the Constitution and the National Assembly Act."

Earlier, the National Assembly held a plenary session in the afternoon and passed the impeachment motion against Acting President Han with 192 out of 192 attending members voting in favor. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced just before the vote that the quorum for the impeachment motion, which was the main point of contention, would be based on the Prime Minister (majority of attending members) rather than the President (majority of all members and two-thirds of attending members). In protest of this standard, the People Power Party did not participate in the vote and walked out.

Reporter Hong Min-seong, Hankyung.com mshong@hankyung.com