Lee Jae-myung: “Han Duck-soo Deluded Into Thinking He’s the President… Has No Authority to Appoint Constitutional Court Judges”
Park Jie-won: “Iwan Kyu Should Disclose His Tenure in the People Power Party… If Within 3 Years, He’s Ineligible to Be a Judge”
Han Duck-soo, the acting president and prime minister, nominated Iwan Kyu, head of the Office of Legislation, and Ham Sang-hoon, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court, as candidates for the Constitutional Court, replacing Judges Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-sun. Opposition parties criticized this move as “overreach” and “outrage,” especially since Iwan Kyu is viewed as a longtime close associate of the recently impeached former president Yoon Seok-yeol and is suspected of involvement in martial law plans, drawing heavy backlash.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, addressed the media outside the Seoul Central District Court, criticizing Han Duck-soo’s decision, stating, “It seems Han is deluding himself into thinking he’s become president. Entering a tiger’s den doesn’t make a rabbit a tiger.” He emphasized that only the elected president and assembly, along with the neutral Supreme Court, have the authority to appoint Constitutional Court judges, and therefore, Han had “overstepped” his authority.
Park Chan-dae, the party’s floor leader, denounced the appointment as an “attempted takeover of the Constitutional Court by remaining insurgent forces,” claiming it was an “invalid nomination” due to unconstitutional abuse of power. He added that citizens would be unable to tolerate such appointments facilitated by the impeached former president through Han Duck-soo, expressing doubts about Han’s qualification as an acting president.
The Democratic Party particularly questioned Iwan Kyu’s qualifications, highlighting his ties to Yoon Seok-yeol. Iwan Kyu is a known contemporary of the former president from Seoul National University Law School and the Judicial Research and Training Institute. He represented Yoon in disciplinary actions regarding Yoon’s suspension as prosecutor general and defended Choi Eun-soon, the mother of Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee. Additionally, there’s suspicion of his involvement in the December 3 martial law plans.
The party’s leadership is mounting a focused attack, branding the nominations as an extension of “insurgency.” Democratic Party spokesperson Han Min-su stated, “Iwan Kyu is not qualified to be a Constitutional Court judge. He is currently accused of insurrection and was reportedly involved in planning strategies post-martial law.” Others in the party labeled his nomination as an attempt to “shelter alleged insurrection personnel at the Constitutional Court.”
Representative Park Jie-won called on social media for Iwan Kyu to disclose details of his affiliation with the People Power Party, underscoring that the Constitutional Court Act bars anyone from serving as a judge within three years of their party membership or affiliation. “He should reveal the dates of his membership and resignation from the party,” Park demanded.