South Korean Acting President Han calls for thorough preparations for cooperation with Trump administration

Seoul:  South Korean Acting President, Han Duck-soo, has called for thorough preparations to ensure timely cooperation with US President Donald Trump’s administration on key issues, including diplomacy, Defence and economy, the presidential office said on Tuesday.

Han made the remark while presiding over an emergency National Security Council meeting on Monday evening, shortly after being reinstated following the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of his impeachment.

During the meeting, Han also urged the officials to “implement the necessary national-level policy measures without delay for our national interests and security” and to actively cooperate with the international community in this regard, Yonhap news agency reported.

“The National Security Office at the presidential office should take the lead in maintaining a system that ensures close information sharing and coordination among ministries involved in diplomacy and security,” he said.

Earlier on March 24, South Korea’s Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s impeachment, reinstating him as Acting President in the ongoing turmoil over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law.

The court’s eight justices dismissed Han’s impeachment in a 5-1 vote. Two justices voted to reject the impeachment motion entirely.

The ruling came three months after the National Assembly impeached the Prime Minister and then Acting President over his alleged role in Yoon’s December 3 declaration of martial law, among other reasons.

Four of the five justices who voted to dismiss Han’s impeachment acknowledged there were violations of the Constitution and the law in his decision to defer the appointment of additional justices to the court but noted it did not justify his removal from office.

As the only justice to uphold the impeachment, however, Justice Chung Kye-sun said the violations were “serious” enough to warrant his dismissal.

Monday’s ruling was closely watched as a test of the court’s views on charges raised against Yoon in his impeachment trial.

The court has yet to announce the date of its ruling on Yoon’s case.

–IANS