Choi Sang-mok, acting president, deputy prime minister, and minister of strategy and finance, is entering the cabinet meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex on the 25th. February 25, 2025, Newsis.
On the 27th, Choi Sang-mok’s office stated, “We respect the decision of the Constitutional Court,” regarding the court’s ruling that the non-appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a constitutional judge was unconstitutional.
A representative from Choi’s office conveyed on the morning of the 27th, immediately following the court’s ruling on the authority dispute case, “Acting President Choi respects the court’s decision and will closely review the decision document.”
The Constitutional Court accepted the opinion of Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly, in the authority dispute case he raised against Acting President Choi regarding the deferral of Ma’s appointment.
The court unanimously ruled that “the inaction of Acting President Choi in failing to appoint Ma, whom the National Assembly elected as a constitutional judge, violates the constitutionally granted right of the claimant to compose the Constitutional Court through the election of its judges.”
As a result, Acting President Choi is now constitutionally obligated to appoint Ma as a judge of the Constitutional Court.
Previously, on December 31 of the previous year, Acting President Choi had appointed only Cho Han-chang and Jeong Gye-seon among the three judges elected by the National Assembly, deferring Ma’s appointment due to a lack of bipartisan agreement.