People Power Party delays Constitutional Court appointments to stall Yoon impeachment?…Opposition "Considering solo hearings"

Opposition: "People Power Party Must Cooperate with Confirmation Hearings"
Plan to Hold Hearing at 10 AM on the 18th Confirmed
Considering Advancing Hearing Schedule and Holding Confirmation Hearings This Week

The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, warned that they could hold the Constitutional Court Justice confirmation hearings solely with the opposition. The opposition also raised suspicions that the People Power Party is deliberately delaying the schedule of the confirmation hearings to postpone the impeachment trial process.

Members of the Democratic Party serving on the Constitutional Court Justice confirmation committee held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 17th, demanding, "The People Power Party must immediately cooperate with the Constitutional Court confirmation hearings." They stated, "If the People Power Party still has the will to uphold the Constitution, they should stop the transparent delay strategy aimed at saving President Yoon and promptly respond to the confirmation hearing procedures."

Regarding the claim by Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, that the acting president cannot appoint Constitutional Court justices during the president’s suspension, they explained, "This is an independent claim with no legal basis and is not agreed upon by the Constitutional Court or academia," adding, "All three candidates undergoing confirmation hearings this time are nominees recommended by the National Assembly, and in this case, the acting president’s appointment is merely a formal procedure to approve the Assembly’s recommendation, so appointment is possible according to the consensus in academia."

Yonhap News

Opposition special committee members also claimed that the ruling party has changed its stance. Just yesterday, Floor Leader Kwon showed a position that it would be difficult to refuse the hearing procedure, citing prior agreements between floor leaders, but his stance has since changed. They stated, "According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, the hearing schedule for the candidates must be completed by the 24th," and "Since the Constitutional Court plans to hold the first preparatory hearing for the impeachment trial on the 27th, the National Assembly cannot delay the hearing procedures in order to review the case with a normal nine-member court."

They added, "If the People Power Party ultimately opposes the normal formation of the Constitutional Court, we will hold a confirmation special committee meeting at 10 a.m. tomorrow (the 18th) and proceed with the confirmation hearing procedures as prescribed by law." Kim Han-gyu, the Democratic Party’s special committee secretary, said, "The first meeting is convened by the eldest member," and "It seems that the eldest member from the People Power Party will attend, but if the People Power Party refuses to participate in the hearing procedures, we are considering replacing the member with someone slightly older from the opposition and proceeding with the agenda related to the confirmation hearing procedures by uniting members excluding the People Power Party members."

They also indicated that the schedule could be moved earlier than the originally announced dates of the 23rd and 24th. Representative Kim said, "If the People Power Party does not participate, we can swiftly proceed with the confirmation hearing procedures even within this week," adding, "We plan to decide on this in consultation with the floor leadership by 10 a.m. tomorrow."