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# South Korea finance minister resigns before impeachment vote
South Korea’s finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, resigned late on 2025-05-01 just minutes before the National Assembly was due to vote on a motion to impeach him, according to Yonhap.
The resignation halted the impeachment proceedings and set off another abrupt leadership change in a country that has seen a rapid succession of temporary leadership shifts in recent months. The report says outgoing acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo immediately accepted the resignation.
Choi’s departure came at a sensitive time. He had been serving in an interim leadership role after South Korea’s political turmoil intensified following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law in December and his removal from office on April 4. The supplied report says Choi first stepped into the interim presidential role on December 27 after Han was impeached by the National Assembly. He was then set to resume the acting presidency again at midnight following Han’s resignation.
The impeachment motion against Choi was led by the Democratic Party, which controlled the National Assembly. It accused him of, among other things, delaying the appointment of the ninth justice to the Constitutional Court. The source does not provide the full text of the motion, but the allegation shows the extent to which constitutional and institutional disputes remained central to the political crisis.
Choi’s resignation statement, as quoted in the report, emphasized the pressure of the economic and political environment. He said he was unable to continue his duties amid “grave internal and external economic conditions.” That line suggests the resignation was framed not only as a procedural move but also as a response to the wider strain on governance.
The report is notable for what happened procedurally after the resignation: the National Assembly halted the impeachment vote. That means the resignation had an immediate effect on both the timing and the political stakes of the day’s events. It also reinforces how fragile South Korea’s interim leadership structure had become, with officeholders moving in and out of acting positions under intense parliamentary pressure.
The supplied evidence is limited to a single wire report, so this article avoids extending the story into speculation about successor politics or the June presidential race, even though the source notes Han Duck-soo was widely expected to run. The verified core is narrower and stronger: Choi resigned, the impeachment vote was stopped, and another leadership transition followed.
The event date is 2025-05-01. The report uses source 4850.
