South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol's dramatic decision to impose martial law on Tuesday undermines his leadership after opposition leaders filed a motion to impeach him. There is a possibility that the
This is an act that, if history is any guide, could lead to him later being criminally charged and imprisoned.
Opposition leaders posed solemnly with the motion at Wednesday's announcement.
Mr. Yoon suddenly launched an emergency military crackdown late Tuesday night designed to halt all activities of the parliament, which is led by the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
In a statement announcing the short-term order, Yun claimed martial law was aimed at combating North Korean influence and “anti-state” forces within the government.
His declaration was only valid for about six hours, and shortly after it was declared, Congress unanimously voted to cancel the executive order.
Prime Minister Yoon and his cabinet then formally lifted the measures by 4:30 a.m. local time, as required by the constitution passed by a majority vote in parliament.
Under South Korean law, impeachment of a president requires the support of at least six judges of the Constitutional Court, in addition to the approval of two-thirds of Congress.
But if Congress votes to impeach him, he would immediately lose his constitutional powers, at least until the Constitutional Court rules.
The motion, filed by the Democratic Party and five other smaller opposition parties, could be brought to a vote by Friday.
“President Yun Seok-yue's declaration of martial law is a clear violation of the constitution. It did not comply with any requirements for declaring it,” the Democratic Party said in a statement.
“His declaration of martial law was originally invalid and a serious violation of the Constitution. This is a serious act of treason and is the perfect basis for his impeachment.”
South Korea has a long and difficult history for leaders, and since 1948, 12 previous dictators and former presidents have been overthrown, criminally investigated, impeached or threatened with impeachment, imprisoned, assassinated, or sentenced to death. There is.
The country last impeached a president in 2016, when then-President Park Geun-hye was charged with bribery, abuse of state power and leaking state secrets and removed from office.
Park was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crime, but was pardoned in 2021 by then-President Moon Jae-in on “compassionate grounds.”
Prior to that, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached in 2004, but no criminal charges were brought against him.
He was suspended for two months until the Constitutional Court reinstated him to power.
In the 300-member Congress, 200 politicians would need to vote to approve impeachment.
There are 192 opposition members in the National Assembly, and they only need to persuade eight members of Yun's party to pass the bill.
There are already some signs that it might be possible.
When the legislature convened an emergency session on Tuesday to overturn Yun's martial law declaration, 18 members of Yun's People's Power Party voted in favor of rejecting it, according to a National Assembly source.
Even Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People's Power Party, who has had a long relationship with Yoon since his time as a prosecutor before becoming a politician, opposed Yoon's declaration of martial law, calling it “wrong” and “unconstitutional.” did.
The last time martial law was declared in the country was in the early 1980s during the student protests.
Previously, the deprivation of freedom measures had been used by a series of South Korean leaders to suppress government protests before the country's first democratic elections in 1987.
