A South Korean court has overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as the country’s acting leader in the first major ruling after the martial law fiasco.

The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of Han on Monday, with only one out of eight judges voting against restoring him to office. The decision is closely watched as it comes before the same court decides on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

The decision on Han marks the first time the court has ruled on a case related to Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree, which plunged South Korea into its worst constitutional crisis in recent history. The political uncertainty has deeply divided the nation, with thousands of protesters gathering in Seoul as the country waits for the court’s decision on whether to uphold or reject Yoon’s impeachment.

Han himself was suspended by lawmakers in late December while serving as acting president for resisting opposition pressure to appoint new judges to the Constitutional Court — a move that would have boosted the chances of finalizing Yoon’s impeachment — and for allegedly aiding Yoon’s martial law declaration, charges Han has denied.

The court said Han’s refusal to appoint Constitutional Court justices was a violation of the law, but it wasn’t sufficient to justify his removal from office.

South Korea’s equity benchmark Kospi erased losses of as much as 0.5% shortly after the ruling and extended its gains for the sixth day. The won was little changed at 1,465.85 per dollar.

With Han reinstated to office, he will take back the role of acting president from Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok. Last week, opposition parties, which hold a commanding majority in parliament, submitted a motion to impeach Choi for delaying the appointment of a court justice approved by the assembly.

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(With assistance from Shinhye Kang, Sangmi Cha, Karl Lester M. Yap and Seyoon Kim.)

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