Kwon Seong-dong "Regret over Constitutional Court's Ma Eun-hyeok Decision... Should Not Appoint as Justice"

"It Means the Constitutional Court Has Abandoned Its Identity... Choi Should Not Appoint Ma Eunhyuk"

The People Power Party expressed regret on the 27th over the Constitutional Court's ruling that Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok's withholding of the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court justice candidate was unconstitutional.

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after a party meeting at the National Assembly that day, "The Constitutional Court has effectively allowed the ruling party's parliamentary dictatorship," and criticized, "The court did not consider the customary practices or constitutional customs regarding the appointment of Constitutional Court justices at all, and only cited the formal principle of majority rule, which means the court has abandoned its own identity."

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th. 2025.2.27 Photo by Kim Hyun-min

He also pointed out the decision on candidate Ma was made despite the impeachment trial verdict on Prime Minister Han Duck-soo not yet being issued, saying, "This conclusion was reached mainly by Constitutional Court justices from the Uri Law Research Association."

Regarding Acting President Choi, he firmly stated, "Candidate Ma should not be appointed as a Constitutional Court justice without bipartisan agreement." On that day, the Constitutional Court did not issue a ruling that would compel Acting President Choi to appoint candidate Ma. According to the Constitutional Court's decision, Acting President Choi does not have the authority to be forced to appoint candidate Ma, which is the People Power Party's argument. Floor leader Kwon emphasized, "We should first expedite the appointments of the Ministers of National Defense and the Interior and Safety, which are more urgent than candidate Ma's appointment, and no decision should be made on candidate Ma until there is bipartisan agreement or until Prime Minister Han Duck-soo returns as acting president."

When asked if telling Acting President Choi to withhold candidate Ma's appointment was a defiance of the Constitutional Court's ruling, he replied, "While the court infringed on the National Assembly's right to compose the Constitutional Court, it concluded that Acting President Choi cannot be forced to appoint. This means Acting President Choi should not appoint based on his own conviction and judgment, and it is not defiance of the court's decision."

Earlier, the National Assembly selected Jeong Gye-seon, Ma Eun-hyuk, and Jo Han-chang as candidates for Constitutional Court justices, but Acting President Choi appointed only Jeong Gye-seon and Jo Han-chang on December 31 of last year, withholding Ma's appointment. The reason given was that bipartisan agreement on candidate Ma had not been confirmed. Speaker Woo Won-shik then filed a constitutional dispute lawsuit, arguing that Acting President Choi infringed on the National Assembly's right to compose the Constitutional Court and the right to select justices by appointing only two of the three candidates selected by the National Assembly.