[Editorial] Pressure on Choi

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint with police against acting President Choi Sang-mok.

It accused him of dereliction of duty for doing nothing to handle matters with the Presidential Security Service, which blocked the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials from executing a warrant to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Party leader Lee Jae-myung said that Choi destroyed the order of the state and he should be held responsible for insurrection. Floor Leader Park Chan-dae said Choi caused lawlessness and "neglected bloodshed."

Some opposition lawmakers called for his impeachment. They also said that CIO Chief Prosecutor Oh Dong-woon could be impeached for failing to arrest Yoon. Their position is to accuse or impeach anyone who does not work to their benefit.

Earlier, the Democratic Party had impeached then-acting President Han Duck-soo for putting off the appointment of three Constitutional Court justices. Follow-up impeachment threats against Choi subsided after he appointed two of the three justices, but as the arrest of Yoon foundered, the party asked police to investigate Choi.

While Choi may be the acting president, the party has obviously gone over the line.

Whether the acting president has the right to command the Presidential Security Service, which still protects the suspended president, is judicially controversial. Furthermore, consulting the CIO about the execution of an arrest warrant could be in violation of the agency law that prohibits the presidential office from being involved in any of its work.

It is hard to understand how not instructing the Presidential Security Service to cooperate with the execution of a warrant would constitute insurrection. There is no news, either, that the execution of the warrant led to any bloodshed.

Korean politics and its economy are in a precarious situation after Yoon's short-lived Dec. 3 martial law decree. In the meantime, North Korea on Monday fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, which landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Not only the reportedly upgraded performance of the missile, which the North claims was tipped with a hypersonic warhead that is difficult to track and shoot down, but also the timing of its launch stokes worries.

The missile was fired on the same day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the US alliance in his meetings with key South Korean leaders in Seoul. It is particularly concerning that the North's provocation comes as the South is in the middle of an acute split in public opinion and a security vacuum upon the presidential impeachment.

Important posts including defense minister and Army chief of staff remain vacant, as the people in those positions were indicted on charges related to insurrection. It is urgent to fill the vacant seats. Above all, a defense minister should be appointed as soon as possible.

Apparently affected by the political uncertainties in South Korea, international bankers recently further downgraded their outlooks for the country's 2025 economic growth.

In an unstable situation, it will only aggravate the crisis to politically suppress Choi, who is currently carrying out multiple roles as acting President, prime minister, finance minister and deputy prime minister for economy and finance. Lee and the Democratic Party are undermining the nation's constitutional system too easily at a time when it is in a critical state.

The chaos stems from the party's impatience to take power before the final ruling comes on Lee's election law violations.

The National Assembly's impeachment committee, led by the party, effectively withdrew insurrection, which is the main charge, from its articles of impeachment to speed up the Constitutional Court hearing. A responsible leader or party should not act tyrannically to clear any obstacle standing in the way of their political goals. If they continue to take things too far, they will meet strong headwinds some day.