Top aides to ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resign en masse on Wednesday, a day after his office lamented interim President Choi Sang-mok’s approval of two new judges for a court who will decide Yoon’s fate.
Yoon’s chief of staff, policy chief, national security adviser and special adviser on foreign affairs and security, as well as all other senior secretaries, have resigned, his office said in a statement, without elaborating.
Choi said he would not accept their resignation as the priority now was to focus on improving the economy and stabilizing state affairs, his office said.
Aides have repeatedly expressed their intention to resign following Yoon’s failed attempt to declare martial law on Dec. 3, but their resignations have not been accepted, said a presidential official, who declined to be named due to political sensitivities.
The official said senior secretaries have been assisting Choi since he took over as acting president. Two other officials said the aides do not participate in day-to-day government operations but must report to Choi and attend meetings when necessary.
The aides’ latest offer came a day after Choi’s surprise approval to fill two vacancies on the Constitutional Court handling the impeachment trial against Yoon.
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This brought the total number of judges to eight on the nine-member court. Any decision on the Yoon case will require the concurrence of at least six judges.
The ruling People Power Party criticized Choi’s decision as “dogmatic” and without sufficient consultation.
Finance Minister Choi took over as acting president on Friday from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had been acting president since Dec. 14 when Yoon was suspended from power.
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Yoon is being investigated on allegations he led an insurrection and on Tuesday a Seoul district court issued an arrest warrant, the first for a sitting president.
