SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday clashed over the appointment of new constitutional court justices for President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial, with three of nine court justices being vacant.
Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the governing conservative People Power Party, told a party meeting that it is impossible for an acting president to appoint new justices until the impeachment resolution is upheld by the court.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo became an acting president following Yoon's impeachment in the National Assembly on Saturday that suspended Yoon's presidential duties for up to 180 days during which the court will deliberate it.
Kweon noted that when the presidential power is suspended, the acting president can not appoint new court justices, saying the acting president should carefully and closely review the scope of exercising his authority.
Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told a party meeting that it is desirable to proceed with the impeachment trial under the nine-member constitutional court, not six justices currently on the bench, for the trial's fairness and reliability.
Park vowed to speed up the process of approving three constitutional court justices recommended by the National Assembly, stressing that the president can only appoint the parliament-recommended justices under the constitution.
The constitutional court is composed of nine justices, including three nominated by president, three nominated by chief justice of the Supreme Court and three nominated by the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party and the People Power Party recommended two and one justices each.
At least two-thirds of the 9-member constitutional court should rule in favor of the impeachment to remove Yoon from office.
If the court upholds the impeachment, a snap presidential election will be held within 60 days, but otherwise, Yoon will immediately be reinstated.
Yoon was named by investigative agencies as a suspect on rebellion charge following his martial law imposition on the night of Dec. 3 that was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.■