Opposition parties moved Wednesday to impeach South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol over his sudden declaration of martial law, which put one of the United States' closest allies at risk.
The impeachment motion was shared during the meeting. press conferencethe opposing Democratic Party and five other parties filed a joint procedural motion. Since two-thirds of Congress must vote in favor of impeaching the president, some members of Yun's party will also need to support the impeachment process.
Lawmakers could vote on the step as soon as Friday. If the impeachment vote is successful, the president will be suspended from office, but six of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court would need to side with the opposition party to remove him from office.
Yun's impeachment push comes a day after the president declared martial law, suspending all civil meetings and political activities while denouncing Congress as a “den of criminals.”
“The government has paralyzed the administrative and legal systems. [opposition-driven] “We are enacting a law to overthrow our democratic system,” said Yun, leader of the People's Power Party.
Hours later, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik vowed to “defend democracy together with the people” and ordered the military to withdraw from the National Assembly Building, and the president's efforts were blocked by Congress.
The declaration of martial law sparked protests outside parliament. The president's push also hurt the country's currency.
The White House National Security Council said Tuesday that “the United States was not informed in advance of this announcement.”
“We are deeply concerned by the developments we are seeing on the ground. [Republic of Korea]” the council said.
Secretary of State Blinken said Wednesday that the U.S. government was “closely” monitoring developments in the country and offered support to U.S. allies.
“We welcome President Yoon's statement that he will rescind emergency martial law in accordance with the Korean Constitution following the unanimous rejection of emergency martial law by the National Assembly,” Blinken said. stated in a statement.
The statement continued, “We continue to hope that political differences will be resolved peacefully in accordance with the rule of law,'' and “reaffirm our support for the Korean people and the U.S.-South Korea alliance based on common principles of democracy and national governance.'' I will,” he added. Law. “
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
