Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party of Korea floor leader, enters the room for a meeting at the National Asembly in Seoul, Dec. 24. Yonhap

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vowed Tuesday to immediately take steps to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo over his refusal to promulgate two special counsel bills targeting President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, the DPK floor leader, made the remark shortly after a Cabinet meeting led by Han ended without reviewing the two bills calling for special counsel investigations into Yoon's short-lived imposition of martial law and corruption allegations involving Kim.

"We will immediately begin impeachment proceedings against acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo," Park said during a party meeting, claiming Han clearly stated his opposition to promulgating the bills.

"There is no other way to interpret this than (as a tactic) to buy time and prolong the insurrection," he said, referring to characterizations of Yoon's martial law declaration as an insurrection.

The DPK had earlier threatened to take steps to impeach Han unless he signed the bills into law Tuesday.

When the DPK will take action remains undecided, however, as the party could wait to see whether Han appoints justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court ahead of its trial on the National Assembly's impeachment of Yoon over the martial law decree.

A senior official at the Prime Minister's Office expressed regret over the DPK's threat to impeach Han.

"I find it extremely regrettable and believe they will think it over more carefully from here on," he told reporters. (Yonhap)