President Moon Jae-in has pushed ahead with appointing two Constitutional Court justice nominees without parliamentary consent.

Senior presidential public relations secretary Yoon Do-han said on Friday that Moon, who is currently touring Central Asia, electronically approved the appointments of Lee Mi-sun and Moon Hyung-bae at around 12:40 p.m.

Yoon said the appointments were made to avoid a vacuum in the operation of the Constitutional Court after the six-year terms of two justices ended on Thursday.

After the National Assembly refused to give consent for the nominees, Moon made a second request for parliament to adopt their confirmation hearing reports by midnight on Thursday.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party(LKP), which strongly opposes the appointment of Lee over her suspicious stock trading, plans to stage a massive rally at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul on Saturday in protest.

The LKP is expected to demand the dismissal of presidential secretaries responsible for the controversial nominations, as well as a public apology from Moon himself.