Lawmakers Impeach South Korean President After Martial Law Controversy

South Korean lawmakers have impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol following his declaration of martial law earlier this month.

Three hundred lawmakers from the country’s National Assembly voted 204-85 to remove the president.

Yoon had on December 3 declared an emergency martial law (a state of military rule, often imposed during times of crisis or emergency) to protect the country’s constitutional order.

The president who made the declaration in a live television address accused the country’s opposition, who had the majority seats in the parliament, of attempting to throw the country into crisis by collaborating with North Korea to paralyse the government with its anti-state activities.

The move led to widespread protests across the country and an emergency session by the national assembly, which ordered the military to stand down and moved an initial impeachment motion against him.

But Yoon managed to survive impeachment after his party, the People Power Party (PPP), boycotted the voting process.

The protests, however, continued as the masses demanded his resignation.

Although Yoon rescinded the martial law order just six hours later, the damage had already been done, as he had plunged the nation into a constitutional crisis.

In a second impeachment attempt, the lawmakers accused Yoon of insurrection and “abandoning his duty to protect the constitution.”

The National Assembly needed 200 votes to vote him out, meaning the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and its partners convinced more than the needed eight lawmakers from Yoon’s party to remove him.

Following his impeachment, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as acting leader during the Constitutional Court’s deliberation on the impeachment, which could take up to 180 days.

President Yoon will remain in office in a limited capacity until the court reaches a decision.

The court, currently operating with only six of its nine justices, must unanimously uphold the impeachment for it to be finalized and if it is done, a presidential election would be required within 60 days.

If the Constitutional Court upholds his impeachment, Yoon would become the third South Korean president to be successfully impeached in history after Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-Hye in 2017.

However, Roh Moo-hyun was reinstated by the Constitutional Court and allowed to remain in office.

Lawmakers Impeach South Korean President After Martial Law Controversy is first published on The Whistler Newspaper