[Anchor]
On the other hand, the Democratic Party argued that the Constitutional Court must quickly have all nine justices appointed.
The three vacant positions are allotted to the National Assembly, and they argue that Acting President Han Duck-soo can appoint them. If he does not, they are considering the possibility of impeachment.
This is because having all nine justices appointed is advantageous for impeachment acceptance.
This is reporter Park Ja-eun.
[Reporter]
[Park Chan-dae / Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea]
“The idea that an acting president cannot make appointments during a presidential suspension is just wordplay. We urge them to stop the petty procedural delay tactics and promptly engage in scheduling the confirmation hearings.”
The Democratic Party countered that Acting President Han Duck-soo can appoint the justices to the Constitutional Court.
They stated that the justices nominated by the National Assembly have only been formally appointed by the president, so there is no issue with Han making the appointments.
The nine justices of the Constitutional Court are nominated by the president, the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with three appointed by each.
They explained that during former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, the opposition to Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn’s appointment of a justice was because it was the president’s nomination.
[Cho Seung-rae / Chief Spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea]
“Representative Kwon Seong-dong’s claim is sophistry and misleading; he is mixing the president’s nomination with the Chief Justice’s recommendation.”
They also emphasized that the justice appointed by Hwang, who was a nominee of the Chief Justice, was appointed after the acceptance of Park’s impeachment.
The Constitutional Court has stated that appointments are possible as a general principle.
[Kim Jeong-won / Secretary General of the Constitutional Court]
“We believe that an acting president can exercise appointment authority over the court justices.”
The Democratic Party stated, “Justices must be appointed according to the constitution and law,” and opened the possibility of impeaching Acting President Han if he refuses.
The Democratic Party plans to conduct confirmation hearings for the three justices next week and handle the appointments in a plenary session on the 30th.
This is Park Ja-eun from Channel A News.
Video coverage: Lee Chul, Kim Myung-chul
Video editing: Lee Tae-hee