[Editorial] Improper acting presidency

A request made by eight Constitutional Court justices on Monday that the court’s two vacancies, president and a justice, should be filled as soon as possible is just and proper in the aspect of its independence.

The positions, if left vacant for a protracted period, will harm the normal operation of the court and its status as an institution that safeguards the Constitution.

President Moon Jae-in must nominate a new candidate for the chief justice of the court quickly. Moon and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea must stop protecting Kim Yi-su, acting president of the court, and instigating popular support for him.

Opposition parties boycotted the parliamentary inspection of the court on Friday, blaming Kim for staying on as acting president even after the National Assembly voted down his nomination.

Their boycott is not desirable, but it has been invited by Cheong Wa Dae’s reaction against the rejection of Kim. The presidential office announced on Tuesday that it would maintain the acting presidency until the parliament legislates on the court president’s term of office. The announcement disregards the parliament’s decision.

After the boycott, online posts encouraging Kim to “keep in there” began to appear on social network services. Kim Been, digital spokesman of the Democratic Party, urged Twitter users to search for “Keep in there, Kim Yi-su” posts to raise the ranking of the phrase to the top of the list of the most searched terms.

Later Moon fueled the online campaign, saying on Facebook: “Kim has been elected acting president of the court by its justices according to its regulations. It goes against law and order for the National Assembly to deny the justices’ decision and refuse the court briefings in its inspection session.”

Moon also said neither president nor the parliament has the authority to challenge the qualification of the legitimately selected acting president of the court.

He apologized to Kim and urged lawmakers to respect the independence of the three powers -- administration, legislation and judicature.

And then the phrase rose to the top of the list apparently thanks to Moon supporters.

Cheong Wa Dae and the Democratic Party trying to protect Kim and instigate support for him in public is an improper act of infringing on the independence of the Constitutional Court.

Under the court regulations, its justices are supposed to elect an acting president when the position becomes vacant. This is an article stipulated in case of emergencies. The president and the National Assembly have obligations to end this emergency.

The justices must have decided to elect Kim as acting president as an interim measure, expecting a new chief justice to be appointed soon.

Cheong Wa Dae said on Friday, “If it nominates another justice as the court president, a problem about the nominee’s term of office will come up. It will nominate a new court president shortly after the parliament legislates on the term of office of court president.”

Moon did not raise issue of the term of the court president when he nominated Kim. Moon said at that time that Kim would stay as president of the court for the remainder of the term he holds as a justice of the court.

When it threw out the nomination motion, the National Assembly believed the term of the court president would expire when his or her term as a justice of the court ends.

Maintaining acting presidency without fair grounds of emergency is unjustifiable.

The president has a duty to ensure the smooth operation of the court to protect the Constitution.

The National Assembly has an authority to disapprove the nomination of the court chief justice. If the parliament rejects the nomination, the president must search for and nominate a new candidate.

It goes against the spirit of the Constitution for the president to blame the parliament even without performing a duty to search for a replacement, just because it turned down a nominee.