By: Estefani Cruz
December 16, 2024
South Korea’s parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol eleven days after he decided to declare martial law on the night of December 3rd. This was the second National Assembly vote on Yoon’s impeachment, following last week’s motion that was boycotted by the majority of ruling party lawmakers. Intense protests against Yoon and his staggeringly low approval rates over the past week prompted countless People Power Party lawmakers to change their stance and support his impeachment. The motion passed 204 to 85 in the 300-member National Assembly, suspending Yoon from his duties. Consequently, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as the acting president while South Korea’s Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold or reject Yoon’s impeachment.
Lee-Jae Myung, the Democratic Party opposition leader who urged Koreans to rush to the Assembly and block soldiers from seizing the Parliament, commended the impeachment as evidence that “people are owners of this country” (Kuhn). Yoon’s justification for declaring martial law was that opposition politicians sympathetic with North Korea were “paralyzing” the government. However, no rebellion or breakdown of public order legally validated martial law. Despite this, soldiers stormed the National Assembly building, attempting to halt lawmakers from voting. In response, citizens, at the urging of the opposition leader, physically blocked armored vehicles from entering the Assembly. South Korea’s authorities, including police and prosecutors are now investigating Yoon for suspected insurrection and have barred him from leaving the country, making him the first South Korean president to face such restrictions. If convicted of this rebellious offense, which includes retributions of life imprisonment or the death penalty, Yoon’s political career could be jeopardized.
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