Term of acting president

“I’ll take some rest in Hawaii and come back before Ike visits Korea,” said Syngman Rhee when he took the flight at the Gimpo Airport on May 29, 1960. Korea’s first President Syngman Rhee stepped down during the April 19 Revolution in 1960. Ike is the nickname of former U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower, who visited Korea on June 19, 1960, for the first time as the incumbent U.S. president. Although Rhee planned to come back in less than a month when he left for Hawaii, he eventually died in exile there.

Rhee expressed his will for early return to Heo Jeong, who served as acting president. There have been nine acting presidents in the constitutional history of Korea. Heo served the role of acting president twice, which was unprecedented. After the resignation of Rhee, Foreign Minister Heo Jeong became acting president as the posts of vice president and prime minister were vacant, while Gwak Sang-hun, the speaker of the House of Commons, succeeded the role of acting president. As Gwak resigned in only six days to run for the general election, however, Heo, then the prime minister, took the role again but later he was criticized for helping Rhee’s exile to Hawaii.

Baek Nak-jun, the speaker of the Senate, served as acting president for the shortest period of time. Baek served the role for only five days under the parliamentary constitution of the Second Republic of Korea, before the presidential election. Meanwhile, Park Chung-hee, who had become the chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction after the May 16 military coup, served as acting president Park served the role for 532 days from March 24, 1962 to December 16, 1963. During the period, he implemented the first five-year economic development plan and monetary reform.

It is uncertain how long Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will remain acting president. Whether his term will exceed the terms of former acting presidents (41 days for Choi Kyu-ha, 63 days for Goh Kun or 99 days in total for Heo Jeong) will depend on the Constitutional Court’s deliberation. If the Constitutional Court upholds the National Assembly's impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, Hwang will have to serve as acting president until the new presidential election. He will have to remain politically neutral and cooperate with the National Assembly to become a successful acting president.

leej@donga.com