Six opposition parties have filed a motion to impeach South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
President Yoon announced that he would lift a martial law order, almost six hours after he first announced it, saying that that he will abide by the National Assembly vote to end his martial law order.
The Democratic Party, the main opposition party, demanded that Yoon immediately resign or face impeachment.
“Yoon’s declaration of martial law is a clear violation of the Constitution,” the party said in a resolution issued following an emergency meeting at the National Assembly. The resolution described Yoon’s actions as a “serious act of rebellion” and “a perfect reason for impeachment.”
Democratic Party floor leader, Park Chan-dae asserted that the President must be held to account even if the martial order has been rescinded.
“Even if the President lifts the martial law, he cannot avoid being held accountable for his attempts to disrupt the government. We are now saying loud and clear that the President is not fit to serve as the leader of the country.
“This is the order from our country. The President has to step down.”
Park Chan-dae
The Democratic Party currently holds 170 seats in parliament, meaning it would need some members of Yoon’s People Power Party to vote to remove him.
The Democratic Party and several other minor opposition parties have a combined 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly – just short of the two-thirds threshold needed to impeach Yoon.
Meanwhile, members of President Yoon’s inner circle who have tendered their resignation.
They include Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik, and Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Sung Tae-yoon, along with seven other senior aides, according to South Korea’s presidential office.
Even before the dramatic events overnight, President Yoon was deeply unpopular with voters due to a series of scandals that have rocked his administration since his election in 2022.
The President and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, have been accused of exerting improper influence on the ruling People Power Party’s candidate selection process in the run-up to April’s parliamentary elections.
Kim, 51, has also been separately accused of accepting a $2,200 Christian Dior handbag from a pro-unification Korean American pastor.
Kim has also been accused of academic plagiarism, resume padding and stock manipulation.
Yoon vetoed an investigation into the handbag incident and later claimed it was part of a political plot to make him look bad ahead of the parliamentary elections.
In April’s election, voters delivered the opposition Democratic Party a landslide win with 175 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly in the highest turnout vote in a parliamentary three decades.
Yoon’s popularity has continued to slide since then, with a Gallup Korea poll released last week showing an approval rating of just 19 percent.
Yoon’s Swiftly Rescinded Declaration Deemed Betrayal Of The Nation
South Korea’s most popular left-leaning newspaper blasted President Yoon’s swiftly rescinded declaration of martial law as a “betrayal of the people and the state.”
In a blistering editorial, the Hankyoreh argued that Yoon actions show that he lacks the “minimum judgment and reason required of the Commander-in-chief.”
“Yoon is no longer qualified to be president. The National Assembly needs to hold Yoon responsible for his betrayal of the people and the state.
“From this point forward, government officials, the military and the police must reject all improper orders from the presidential office while bearing in mind that obeying the Constitution means abiding by the National Assembly’s resolution.
Hankyoreh
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