South Korea’s Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, restoring him to his additional role as acting president three months after the National Assembly suspended him. The decision returned Han to office while the court separately considered the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
Five of the eight justices voted to dismiss Han’s impeachment, while one voted to uphold it. Two others concluded that the parliamentary motion should be rejected without a decision on its substance because, in their view, lawmakers had not met the required voting threshold. Together, the outcomes meant seven justices opposed removing Han through the motion before the court, but the formal dismissal vote was 5-1.
The Assembly had impeached Han in December 2024 over several accusations, including his handling of appointments to the Constitutional Court and his alleged role in events around Yoon’s December 3 martial-law declaration. Lawmakers also cited his refusal to promulgate two special-counsel bills concerning Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee and an alleged attempt to establish a joint governing arrangement with then-ruling-party leader Han Dong-hoon.
Four of the five justices who dismissed the case found that Han violated the Constitution and law by delaying appointments of additional Constitutional Court justices. They concluded, however, that the conduct was not serious enough to justify removing him. Justice Chung Kye-sun, the sole justice who supported impeachment, regarded those violations as sufficiently grave and also faulted Han’s handling of recommendations for a permanent special counsel examining insurrection allegations against Yoon.
Six justices who considered the merits found no evidence that Han had actively helped legitimize Yoon’s martial-law move, including through the convening of a Cabinet meeting before it was announced. The court also dismissed the other allegations in the Assembly’s motion.
The justices divided over how many lawmakers were required to impeach an acting president who remained prime minister. Six accepted that the threshold was 151 members of the 300-seat Assembly, the rule for a prime minister. Two said the 200-vote presidential threshold should apply because Han was exercising presidential authority, leading them to reject the motion outright.
Han returned to the government complex within minutes of the judgment and said he would first address urgent matters. His reinstatement resolved his own suspension but did not end South Korea’s broader constitutional turmoil, because Yoon remained suspended and the court had not yet announced when it would rule in the president’s case. Observers watched the result for possible signals about how the justices might assess Yoon’s separate case.
