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South Korea’s prime minister Han Duck-soo has been restored to office as acting president after the country’s constitutional court overturned his impeachment, raising tensions ahead of a hotly anticipated ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law last year.
Han took over as acting president after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to impeach Yoon in December. Han was then impeached and suspended himself after he refused to fill three vacancies on the country’s highest court.
Monday’s verdict returns Han to office with immediate effect, replacing finance minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president. Yoon, who is still nominally head of state, remains suspended from office while the constitutional court deliberates his impeachment.
Yoon also faces separate criminal insurrection charges over his imposition of martial law, which allegedly involved ordering troops to storm the country’s parliament as part of his attempted power grab. He denies the charges.
The court said it had found no objective evidence that Han had played an active role in a December cabinet meeting during which Yoon declared his intention to issue a decree imposing military rule.
But it did not express a view on the legality of the martial law declaration itself, offering little insight into its thinking ahead of its verdict on Yoon’s impeachment. The timing of that ruling has not been announced.
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