South Korea’s main liberal opposition party said it will seek to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo, as Seoul grapples with the turmoil set off when impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol made a short-lived declaration of martial law.
The country’s political parties are now tussling over how to run investigations into that decision, as well as separate allegations against Mr Yoon’s wife.
The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, wants independent investigators, and gave Mr Han until Tuesday to approve bills appointing them.
Impeaching Mr Han would further deepen political chaos and worries by neighbouring countries.
Since Mr Yoon’s impeachment, Mr Han, the country’s second official, has taken over the president’s powers. If he’s impeached, the finance minister is next in line.
The Democratic Party has slammed Mr Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill. It also urged Mr Han to quickly appoint justices to vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing Mr Yoon’s impeachment and will determine whether to dismiss or reinstate him.
Filling the Constitutional Court’s three vacant posts could increase the likelihood of conviction, as it requires the support of six of the court’s possible nine members.
The Democratic Party demanded that Mr Han approve bills calling for special prosecutors to investigate Mr Yoon for rebellion over his marital law decree, and his wife for corruption and other allegations, by Tuesday.
Mr Han did not put the bills on the agendas for Tuesday’s Cabinet Council meeting, calling for the ruling and opposition parties to negotiate more.
Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae responded that there was no room for negotiations about a Yoon investigation and that his party would immediately begin steps toward an impeachment.
Mr Park told a televised party meeting: “We’ve clearly warned that it’s totally up to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo whether he would go down in history as a disgraceful figure as a puppet of rebellion plot leader Yoon Suk Yeol or a public servant that has faithfully carried out the orders by the public.”
South Korean prosecutors and other officials are separately probing whether Mr Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he has ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office.
Mr Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when officials managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Mr Yoon’s decree.
The governing People Power Party said that the opposition’s impeachment threats are interfering with Mr Han’s “legitimate exercise of authority.”
Floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, a Yoon loyalist, said the Democratic Party’s “politics of intimidation have reached their peak”.
An impeachment vote would face legal ambiguities. Most South Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority of parliament, but impeaching the president takes two-thirds. The rival parties differ on which standard would apply to an acting president.
The Democratic Party controls 170 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats, so it would need support from members of other parties including Mr Yoon’s own to get a two-thirds majority.
The Constitutional Court has up to six months to determine Mr Yoon’s fate. If he is thrown out of office, a national election to find his successor must take place within two months.
