S. Korea's opposition parties submit impeachment motion against acting president

SEOUL -- South Korea's opposition parties on Friday submitted an impeachment motion against Choi Sang-mok, deputy prime minister for economic affairs who became acting president in December last year following the impeachments of both president and prime minister.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party and four other minor parties submitted the impeachment motion for four reasons, including Choi's alleged involvement in the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol's botched martial law imposition and his refusal to appoint a constitutional court justice for over three weeks.

Because of Choi's appointment refusal, the nine-member constitutional court currently has eight justices.

The constitutional court planned to decide whether to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on March 24.

The impeachment motion against Han was passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly on Dec. 27 last year following the impeachment of President Yoon on Dec 14.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec 3, but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.