Conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol clings to power Thursday, following his failed attempt to impose martial law on the country. To everyone’s astonishment, he decreed martial law on the evening of Tuesday, December 3, and attempted to muzzle Parliament by sending the army there, before turning around six hours later under pressure from deputies and representatives. demonstrators.
Six opposition parties filed an impeachment motion on Wednesday, accusing the leader of having “seriously violated the Constitution and the law“. This motion will be put to the vote on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT), according to the press agency Yonhap.
The president, very unpopular, will also have to face a police investigation for “rebellion» announced the South Korean police on Thursday. According to a poll published Wednesday by the Realmeter agency, more than seven in ten South Koreans (73.6%) support the demand for impeachment, compared to 24% who say they are opposed and 2.4% who have no opinion.
The opposition has a total of 192 seats out of 300 in the National Assembly, with the other 108 deputies belonging to Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative People’s Power Party (PPP). The motion must be adopted by a two-thirds majority, so the defection of at least eight deputies from the presidential party will be necessary to bring about the fall of Mr. Yoon.
On Thursday, the leader of the PPP in Parliament, Choo Kyung-ho, affirmed that his party would vote against. “All 108 deputies of the People’s Power Party will remain united to reject the impeachment of the president», he told the press, adding however that he had asked the head of state to leave the party.
If the motion is passed, Yoon Suk Yeol will be suspended from office pending confirmation of his dismissal by the Constitutional Court. If the judges give the green light, he will leave power and a new presidential election will have to be organized within 60 days.
Resignation of the Minister of Defense
The Democratic Party, the main opposition force, announced the filing of a complaint against the president for “rebellion», a crime theoretically punishable by death. This Thursday, a senior police official, Woo Kong-suu, confirmed to MPs that an investigation had been opened against the president for this charge.
The latter has not appeared in public since his last speech on national television, Wednesday at dawn, to announce the lifting of martial law which he had decreed the previous evening. On the other hand, on Thursday the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was announced. But others close to the president, including Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, remain in their posts.
On Wednesday, thousands of South Koreans demonstrated in Seoul to demand the president’s departure. More rallies are planned for Thursday. “Our democracy will be trampled if we leave Mr. Yoon in power for another moment“, said a demonstrator, Park Su-hyung, 39 years old. “I had to be there tonight, the president is crazy“, judged Choi Moon Jung, a 55-year-old feminist activist.
In a context of difficulties in adopting the 2025 budget, the president justified this coup by saying he wanted “eliminate elements hostile to the State» et «protect the country from threats posed by North Korean communist forces».
Yoon Suk Yeol, narrowly elected in 2022 and who has never had a majority in Parliament, pointed out a “legislative dictatorship» and accused the elected representatives of the opposition of blocking “all budgets essential to the primary functions of the nation».
Despite the closure of the National Assembly by hundreds of soldiers and police, 190 deputies managed to sneak into the building during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, and hold an extraordinary session to vote unanimously on a motion calling for the lifting of martial law. The president finally gave in to pressure, repealed martial law at dawn Wednesday, and ordered troops to return to their barracks.
Par Le360 (with AFP)
05/12/2024 at 07:42 a.m.
