"I Can No Longer Fulfill My Duties, I Apologize to the People"
Han Ducksoo Immediately Accepts Resignation;
Lee Juhyo, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, Becomes Acting President
Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, is attending the comprehensive policy questioning session on the supplementary budget review at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on the 29th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin. 2025.4.29
Choi Sangmok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, abruptly resigned on May 1. With Acting President and Prime Minister Han Ducksoo stepping down on the same day, Choi's resignation has resulted in the first-ever "triple acting leadership" in the nation's constitutional history. The role of Acting President now falls to Lee Juhyo, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, who is fourth in the Cabinet's order of precedence.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi tendered his resignation in response to the Democratic Party's push to proceed with impeachment proceedings, and stepped down from his post. After his resignation was accepted, he issued a message to the media, stating, "I apologize to the people for having to step down, as I am no longer able to fulfill my duties amid the grave domestic and international economic conditions."
On this day, after the Democratic Party introduced an impeachment motion against him at the National Assembly's plenary session, Choi expressed his intent to resign to Acting President Han at 10:28 p.m., and Han approved it at 10:44 p.m.
Choi had been attending the National Assembly's plenary session to address the supplementary budget bill. After news of his resignation broke, he left the chamber without answering questions from reporters.
The impeachment motion against Choi was initiated by the Democratic Party in March and was reported to the plenary session on April 2 before being referred to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The grounds for impeachment were that, during his time as acting minister, he failed to appoint Ma Eunhyuk as a Constitutional Court justice nominee despite a ruling by the Constitutional Court, thereby infringing on the authority of the National Assembly.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a hearing on April 16 to investigate the impeachment case against Choi Sangmok, Minister of Economy and Finance, but concluded the hearing without adopting an investigation report.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance immediately entered into an official acting leadership system upon the acceptance of Choi's resignation. To minimize any administrative vacuum, Kim Beomseok, who is now serving as Acting Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Economy and Finance, will preside over both the macroeconomic and financial issues meeting (F4) at 7:30 a.m. on May 2, followed by the first-level executive meeting and the expanded executive meeting.
Initially, following Han's resignation, Choi was expected to serve as Acting President starting at midnight on May 2. However, with Choi also stepping down, Lee has now assumed the role of Acting President.
Coincidentally, with both Han and Choi resigning on the same day, the role of Acting President has now passed to Lee, who is fourth in the Cabinet's order of precedence. Lee will be responsible for running state affairs for about five weeks, until the early presidential election scheduled for June 3.
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