South Korea’s ruling party, the People Power party has stated that it will block a move by the opposition to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The floor leader of the People Power party, Choo Kyung-ho vowed at a livestreamed party meeting on Thursday, December 5, 2024, that its 108 lawmakers would “unite” to defeat the opposition-led motion to impeach the deeply unpopular leader.
Opposition lawmakers need eight ruling party lawmakers to vote with them for the impeachment bill to pass. The opposition said that the vote is expected on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
It remained unclear on Thursday, though, whether enough members of Yoon’s party would give him the backing needed to avoid impeachment, as the embattled President sought to deflect criticism of his actions.
Yoon plunged the country into political turmoil on Tuesday evening after he declared martial law in a surprise, late-night televised address, saying it was needed to safeguard the country’s from “anti-state forces” and “threats posed by North Korea.”
Within hours, he was forced to rescind the order when parliamentarians defied an attempted military blockade and assembled to vote it down.
Opposition parties need a two-thirds majority to pass the impeachment bill. If it passes, South Korea’s constitutional court will then decide whether to uphold the motion – a process that could take up to 180 days.
Democratic Party lawmaker, Kim Seung-won, said, “The people and the aides who protected parliament protected us with their bodies.”
“The people won, and it’s now time for us to protect the people.
“We need to immediately suspend the authority of President Yoon. He has committed an indelible, historic crime against the people, whose anxiety needs to be soothed so that they can return to their daily lives.”
Kim Seung-won
If Yoon were to be suspended from exercising power, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in as leader.
If the embattled President resigned or was removed from office, a new election would be held within 60 days.
Yoon Faces Second Challenge
Yoon now faces a second challenge, as police said they were investigating the South Korean President for alleged insurrection over his botched attempt to impose martial law.
Prosecutors said that they had opened an investigation into the President, his Interior Minister, Lee Sang-min, and the now-former Defence Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, over their roles in imposing martial law.
South Korean Presidents do not have immunity from the crime of insurrection, which can carry the death penalty.
Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned as South Korean defence minister over his involvement in Tuesday’s martial law order, also faces a travel ban as prosecutors investigate, Yonhap said. The other two do not face such bans.
On Thursday morning, Yoon accepted the resignation of his Defence Minister, Kim Yong-hyun and nominated his Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung-hyuk, as the new Defence Minister.
Following the declaration, which attempted to ban political activity and censor the media in South Korea, armed troops attempted to force their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul, only to stand back when parliamentary aides sprayed them with fire extinguishers.
The Vice Defence Minister, Kim Seon-ho, claimed that he had not been told in advance about plans, adding the decision to send troops to the national assembly building had come from the now resigned Defence Minister.
Commenting on the situation, US Deputy Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, said that Yoon had “badly misjudged” the martial law decision, which took the White House by surprise.
He said that South Korea would be “in a challenging place” in the next few months and the US goal would be to make clear its alliance with Seoul is “absolutely rock solid.”
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