Dailyreport
Lawmakers in South Korea launched an effort to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, accusing him of using martial law to halt criminal investigations into his family and himself.Opposition in South Korea starts pressing for the president’s impeachment
In a dramatic evening, parliament quickly overturned Yoon’s proclamation of the first martial law in more than 40 years, but it has caused political unrest and frightened close friends.
After being elected president in 2022, Yoon, a conservative politician and former top public prosecutor, now faces a very unclear future.
Opposition legislators in South Korea have submitted a move to impeach Yoon after dodging obstacles and battling security personnel to enter parliament and vote down the martial law overnight.
The motion accuses Yoon of imposing martial law “with the unconstitutional and illegal intent to evade imminent investigations… into alleged illegal acts involving himself and his family” and claims that he “gravely and extensively violated the constitution and the law.”
The proposal could be put to a vote by lawmakers as early as Friday morning, and Yoon’s chances are slim.
In the 300-member parliament, the opposition has a sizable majority, and it only needs a few members of the president’s party to defect in order to obtain the two-thirds majority required to approve the resolution.
A “insurrection” lawsuit, which carries a life sentence or even death sentence, has also been filed by the main opposition Democratic Party against the president, several of his ministers, and senior military and police personnel.
Even Yoon’s own ruling party leader called the effort “tragic” and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.
Following a demonstration at Gwanghwamun Square, thousands of demonstrators gathered around the president’s office in central Seoul on Wednesday night to demand that Yoon resign.
As markets were shaken by the unrest, Seoul’s stock exchange closed Wednesday down more than 1%.
Lawmakers who are defiant
On Tuesday, Yoon invoked the threat of North Korea and “anti-state forces” in his late-night TV declaration declaring martial law.
To secure the scene, around 280 troops—some of whom were helicoptered in—arrived at parliament.
However, 190 legislators forced their way into parliament to vote against the move, defying soldiers with rifles.
Six hours later, Yoon called off the military and retracted his order, citing the constitution’s need that martial law be lifted upon the demand of a parliamentary majority.
Along with the defence minister, who said he accepted “full responsibility for the confusion and concern” surrounding the proclamation of martial law, senior aides working for Yoon also offered to quit collectively on Wednesday.
Yoon had not returned to the public eye by evening.
Flag-waving demonstrators outside parliament, who had defied frigid temperatures to remain vigilant through the night in defiance of Yoon’s order, celebrated the lifting of martial law.
The 55-year-old demonstrator Lim Myeong-pan declared that Yoon had to go.
“It is a serious crime in and of itself that Yoon imposed it in the first place without justification,” Lim told AFP.
“With this, he has cleared the way for his own impeachment.”
Protesters reassembled in Seoul as night fell, intensifying their demands that Yoon leave.
Kim Min-ho, 50, told AFP at a demonstration at the assembly on Wednesday, “I came out to make sure we push out Yoon once and for all because I was so incensed I couldn’t sleep a wink last night.”
“Anti-state” components In order to “protect a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness,” Yoon had declared martial law was necessary.
Although Yoon did not go into detail about the North’s threats, Pyongyang, which possesses nuclear weapons, is still officially at war with the South.
The Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, was called “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” by the president.
Regarding the budget for the upcoming year, Yoon and his People Power Party have been at odds with the opposition for weeks.
In the most recent Gallup poll, which was released last week, his approval rating fell to 19 percent as voters were irate over the economic situation and the scandals surrounding his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
The United States, which has about 30,000 troops in the nation to defend it from the nuclear-armed North, expressed relief at Yoon’s reversal and said it had no prior information of his conduct, which caught allies off guard.
China, South Korea’s neighbour, urged Seoul to take action to protect Chinese citizens, but declined to comment on Wednesday on what it claimed were Seoul’s “internal affairs.”
