CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE, ADDS LEE JU-HO BECOMING ACTING PRESIDENT
By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) – Lee Ju-ho, South Korea’s deputy prime minister for social affairs and education minister, has assumed the role of acting president, making him the third person to take up the post in just five months, according to media reports.
The move came after Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who served as acting president from last December to March following the impeachment of Han Duck-soo, resigned late Thursday ahead of an impeachment motion in parliament.
Choi announced his resignation minutes before the National Assembly was to vote on the motion, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"I apologize to the people that I am unable to continue my duties amid grave internal and external economic conditions," he said.
Choi took on the role of acting president after Han, who was serving as both acting president and prime minister, was impeached in December by parliament for refusing to appoint three judges to the Constitutional Court.
In the latest impeachment motion, the opposition Democratic Party accused Choi of delaying the appointment of the ninth justice to the Constitutional Court, among other allegations related to his brief tenure as acting president, according to the news agency.
He had been expected to resume the role of acting president after Han, who returned as acting president and prime minister in March after the Constitutional Court overturned his impeachment, resigned earlier Thursday, signaling his likely candidacy in the June 3 presidential election.
Han announced his resignation during a news conference in Seoul.
"Thinking of the weight of the responsibility I carry at this grave time, after thinking long and carefully about whether such a decision is in fact right and inevitable, I decided that if this is the only way, I must take it," he said.
South Korea is set to hold elections after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office for his botched martial law bid.