Seoul: The Constitutional Court on Thursday confirmed the validity of the National Assembly's impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo, determining that the use of a quorum standard applicable to Cabinet ministers rather than the president did not breach the Constitution.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in a 6-2 decision, the court dismissed a competence dispute filed by 108 lawmakers from the People Power Party (PPP) against National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik. This ruling followed the court's recent decision to reinstate Han to office.

The parliament had voted unanimously, 192-0, to impeach Han, who was functioning as both prime minister and acting president after then President Yoon Suk Yeol was suspended over the brief imposition of martial law on December 3. The impeachment motion was introduced after Han's refusal to appoint additional justices to the Constitutional Court to deliberate Yoon's impeachment trial.

PPP lawmakers boycotted the impeachment vote, arguing that Speaker Woo incorrectly applied a quorum of a simple majority, usually reserved for Cabinet ministers, rather than the two-thirds majority of 200 votes required for presidential impeachments. In response, PPP lawmakers filed a lawsuit claiming their rights to deliberate and vote were infringed upon.

Nevertheless, the court dismissed their claim, ruling that the speaker's decision did not violate the Constitution or any other laws. The court also noted that PPP lawmakers had voluntarily opted out of the vote, thus were not in a position to claim their rights were violated.