Assembly speaker urges acting president to immediately appoint last nominee for Constitutional Court
Published: 12 Mar. 2025, 16:22
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- MICHAEL LEE
- [email protected]
![National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik speaks at a press conference at the legislature in Yeouido, western Seoul, on March 12. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/03/12/8209fa42-bb3f-4c3b-a6f7-a0ee6383ed70.jpg)
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik speaks at a press conference at the legislature in Yeouido, western Seoul, on March 12. [NEWS1]
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik issued a forceful statement on Wednesday calling on acting President Choi Sang-mok to immediately appoint the legislature's last nominee for the Constitutional Court.
Woo’s comments come nearly two weeks after the Constitutional Court ruled that Choi’s refusal to appoint Ma Eun-hyuk as its ninth justice violated the National Assembly’s right to fill three seats on its nine-member bench.
The impeachment trials of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo were overseen by the court’s current eight justices, who have yet to announce verdicts in either case.
“The acting president has a constitutional obligation to appoint Ma,” Woo said at a press conference. “This includes upholding the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which explicitly ruled that no president, prime minister or Cabinet official can arbitrarily reject or approve a nominee forwarded by the National Assembly for the bench.”
Choi’s inaction has drawn considerable criticism from the Democratic Party (DP), which nominated Ma alongside current justice Chung Kye-sun in December last year.
Another justice, Jo Han-chang, was nominated by the conservative People Power Party (PPP) around the same time.
While Choi approved the nominations of Chung and Jo on Dec. 31, four days after his assumption of the acting presidency, he has refused to appoint Ma, citing a lack of bipartisan consensus.
The current standoff echoes a bitter dispute at the end of last year between the liberal camp and Han, Choi’s predecessor as acting president, who was impeached by the DP-controlled Assembly after he refused to appoint any of the parliament’s nominees.
In his remarks, Woo accused Choi of undermining the constitutional order by disregarding the court's ruling. “By failing to implement the Constitutional Court's decision, the acting president is not only betraying his duty but also his oath as a public official to defend the Constitution,” Woo said.
He further criticized Choi for “undermining the constitutional authority” of both the National Assembly and the court, warning that his refusal to appoint Ma could destabilize the country’s political and legal foundations.
“The acting president’s continued delay in filling the last vacancy on the Constitutional Court’s bench impedes its ability to function at full capacity and increases the potential for social unrest,” Woo said.
Woo also pressed Choi to either appoint Ma immediately or provide a public explanation for his failure to act.
The speaker further demanded that Choi clarify why he has not yet appointed Ma Yong-joo to the Supreme Court following the Assembly’s confirmation of his nomination on Dec. 27 last year.
BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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