April 9, 2025
SEOUL – Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Tuesday he had approved the parliament-led appointment of senior judge Ma Eun-hyuk as the ninth Constitutional Court justice and filled other major judicial vacancies.
In a written address to the nation released just before the Cabinet meeting held Tuesday, Han said he appointed Ma as the new justice after consulting with Cabinet ministers. This complied with the Constitutional Court Act and the court’s ruling in February that recognized his duty to appoint the nominee selected by parliament. Han added in his address that the issue of appointing Ma “has been the cause of much conflict.”
The acting president’s reluctance to appoint Ma — a nominee selected in December by the opposition-led parliament — as the new justice was a major source of political strife. Han’s failure to fill judicial vacancies at the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court caused parliament to pass a motion to impeach him in December, which was overturned at the Constitutional Court in March.
Han declined to appoint Ma, saying the parliament’s selection of the judge lacked bipartisan compromise. Subsequently, the court decided to hand down the verdict on former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment with only eight seats of the Constitutional Court’s nine-member bench filled.
Before the unanimous 8-0 ruling Friday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea consistently demanded that an acting president appoint Ma immediately, as it was speculated that the impeachment verdict to determine Yoon’s fate was lagging due to the court’s failure to secure six or more justices in favor of Yoon’s impeachment.
Ma will start his six-year term as a Constitutional Court justice Wednesday.
At the address, Han also revealed that he had independently nominated Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu and senior judge Ham Sang-hoon to replace two outgoing justices who are due to retire April 18 — acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae and Justice Lee Mi-son. Moon and Lee were directly appointed by former liberal President Moon Jae-in. A president’s choice of Constitutional Court judges does not require Assembly approval.
Han said his decision was meant to avoid a bottleneck over the ongoing impeachment trial against ex-national police commissioner Cho Ji-ho and a potential trial against former acting president and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok. Choi also faces an impeachment threat for his failure to appoint Ma as Constitutional Court justice.
The nine-member bench of the Constitutional Court comprises three judges appointed by the President, three recommended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and three selected by the National Assembly, under the principle of tripartite separation of power.
The opposition parties have claimed that Han, as the acting president, has the duty to appoint those recommended by the judiciary and legislature but not the power to independently nominate judges.
Opposition leader and potential presidential frontrunner Rep. Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday on his way to one of his criminal trials that Han “made the mistake of considering himself a president.”
In particular, Han’s nomination of Lee drew fierce opposition from the parliament. Lee formerly worked as a member of former President Yoon’s campaign team. The two have known each other for about four decades, with both working as public prosecutors.
Rep. Jo Seoung-lae of the Democratic Party said Han “nominated an accomplice in Yoon’s insurrection as the justice nominee,” given that Lee was found to have attended a private meeting with Yoon and some ministers immediately after the martial law was lifted.
National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik also said the parliament would reject Han’s request to undergo a confirmation hearing for nominees Lee and Ham.
Also on Tuesday, Han nominated Ma Yong-joo, a former senior judge of the Seoul High Court, as a Supreme Court justice. His nomination gained parliamentary approval in December.