South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok speaks during the 106th Independence Movement Day ceremony at Soongeui Women’s University on March 01, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Pool via REUTERS
SEOUL, March 21 (Reuters) – South Korean opposition parties will bring a motion to impeach acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday, the majority Democratic Party said in a notice to reporters, in a move likely to escalate recent political strife in the country.
The impeachment would be registered at 2:00 p.m. (0500 GMT), the notice said, though the timetable for a vote was not immediately clear.
Choi, who is the finance minister, is leading the country in an acting capacity after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached over a short-lived martial law he declared in December.
Choi has angered opposition parties, which together have a commanding majority in parliament, by repeatedly vetoing bills and holding off appointing a Constitutional Court justice approved by the assembly.
The court is currently reviewing Yoon’s impeachment and is expected to rule on whether to permanently remove him from office or reinstate him.
As the wait for the court’s ruling has dragged on longer than expected, tensions between opposing parties in parliament and on the streets have intensified amid calls for and against Yoon’s ouster.
Yoon’s impeachment plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy that had been considered a thriving democracy into an unprecedented constitutional crisis. Opposition parties also impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo after he became acting president.
The Democratic Party has said Choi has been violating his constitutional duty by refusing to appoint the Constitutional Court judge despite a ruling by the top court that such inaction was infringing on parliament’s authority.
Reporting by Jack Kim and Hyunsu Yim Editing by Ed Davies
