The Constitutional Court has reinstated acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, dismissing a parliamentary motion to impeach him 87 days after it passed in the National Assembly.

The court announced its decision Monday, with five of the eight sitting justices rejecting the charges brought against Han.

While one justice upheld the motion, the other two said the court should dismiss the case without reviewing its merits.

The court rejected the Assembly’s claim that Han should be dismissed for aiding and abetting President Yoon Suk Yeol in imposing martial law on December 3.  

Four of the five justices who dismissed the motion contended that Han’s nonappointment of three Constitutional Court justices elected by the National Assembly violated the Constitution and the law, but that this did not constitute valid grounds for his impeachment.
 
But the court dismissed Han’s claim that the quorum required to impeach an acting president is 200 votes, or two-thirds of the parliament as applied to a president, not 151 votes as applied to a prime minister. 

After Yoon imposed martial law on December 3 and was impeached December 14, Han became acting president as the Yoon administration’s No. 2 in command.

But on December 27 the opposition-strong National Assembly passed a motion to impeach Han, accusing him of aiding and abetting Yoon’s martial law bid.

In moving to impeach him, the opposition also cited Han’s refusal to appoint Constitutional Court justices and his decisions to veto bills mandating special counsel investigations centering on first lady Kim Keon-hee.