SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach on Friday Acting President Han Duck-soo Despite strong protests from ruling party lawmakers, deepening the country’s political crisis initiated by President Yoon Suk Yeol. the shocking imposition of martial law and the subsequent challenge.
Impeachment there means that the president will be stripped of his powers and duties until the Constitutional Court decides to remove him from office or reinstate him. The court is already considering whether to accept Yoon’s earlier challenge. The impeachment of two of the country’s top officials has exacerbated its political turmoil, fueled economic uncertainty and damaged its international image.
The unicameral National Assembly passed Han’s impeachment motion by a vote of 192-0. Lawmakers from the ruling People’s Power Party staged a boycott and surrounded the podium where assembly speaker Woo Won Shik sat, shouting that the vote was “invalid” and demanding Woo’s resignation. There was no violence or injuries.
PPP lawmakers protested after Wook was asked to vote on Han’s impeachment motion after it was announced that its approval required a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP. Most South Korean officials can be voted out by the National Assembly with a simple majority, but impeaching a president requires two-thirds support. There is no specific law on the impeachment of an acting president.
In a statement, Han called his impeachment “unfortunate” but said he respected the assembly’s decision and would suspend his duties “to add more confusion and uncertainty.” He said that the Constitutional Court will wait for a “quick and wise decision”.
Han’s powers were officially suspended after copies of his impeachment document were delivered to him and the Constitutional Court. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Choi Sang-mo, took over.
Later on Friday, Choi’s office said he had ordered the military to increase its readiness to prevent North Korea from miscalculating the situation and launching provocations. He also told the Foreign Ministry to inform the US, Japan and other major partners that South Korea’s foreign policy remains unchanged.
Han, whom Yoon named prime minister, became acting president after Yoon, a conservative, was impeached by the National Assembly about two weeks ago for imposing martial law on Dec. 3. Han clashed with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which pushed back against opposition-led efforts to fill three vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, establish an independent investigation into Yoon’s martial law decree, and legislate pro-farmer bills.
At the heart of the fighting is the Democratic Party’s demand that Han approve the assembly’s nominations of three new Constitutional Court judges to restore the full nine-member bench ahead of a ruling on Yoon’s impeachment. That’s a politically sensitive issue because a decision to remove Yoon as president requires the support of at least six justices, and adding more justices will increase the chances of Yoon being ousted. Yoon’s political allies in the ruling party oppose the appointment of the three judges, saying Han should not use presidential authority to make the appointments while Yoon has not yet been officially removed from office.
On Thursday, Han said he would not appoint judges without bipartisan approval. Later, the Democratic Party, which has a majority in the assembly, filed a motion of impeachment against Han and passed laws requiring the appointment of three judges.
South Korean investigative agencies are investigating whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power with his marriage law decree. Yoon has repeatedly ignored requests from authorities to appear for face-to-face questioning,
His defense minister, police chief and several other top military commanders have already been arrested for sending troops and police to the National Assembly, which caused a dramatic disruption when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overturn Yoon’s decree. .
South Korean media reported that prosecutors indicted former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who played a key role in planning Yoon’s rebellion, and charged him with abuse of power and obstruction. Reports said Kim, a close associate of Yoon, was the first person to be formally charged under the martial law decree. Calls to the Seoul prosecutor’s office went unanswered.
Han’s impeachment motion accuses him of collaborating and aiding Yoon’s declaration of martial law. He is also accused of trying to obstruct the reinstatement of the full membership of the Construction Court and delaying investigations into Yoon’s alleged rebellion by failing to appoint independent counsel.
Martial law, South Korea’s first in more than 40 years, lasted just six hours but sparked political unrest in South Korea, alarming residents and roiling markets. Yoon has defended his decree as an act of governance, which he said was a warning to the Democratic Party, which he says has used its parliamentary majority to obstruct his agenda.
