Parliament impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol

The South Korean Parliament adopted this Saturday, December 14, an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, for his failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3. A total of 204 MPs voted in favor of the motion and 85 against. Three deputies abstained and eight ballots were declared invalid, according to the result announced by the president of the chamber.

“Today’s impeachment is the great victory of the people and of democracy”welcomed Park Chan-dae, head of the Democratic Party group (main opposition force) in Parliament.

Thousands of demonstrators had begun to gather in Seoul, before the vote of deputies scheduled for 4 p.m. (07:00 GMT), to demand the departure of the unpopular conservative head of state, at the same time targeted by an investigation for “rebellion” and who is prohibited from leaving the country. Police said they expected at least 200,000 participants. In front of the National Assembly, in the freezing cold, volunteers distribute heating patches, coffee and food. One protester announced that she had rented a bus and made it available to parents wishing to change diapers and feed their babies during the rally. “If Yoon is not removed today, I will come back next week”told AFP Yoo Hee-jin, 24, who declares herself “furious” against the president. “I will continue to come every week until this happens”she swears.

Free meals for protesters

K-pop singer Yuri, from the group Girl's Generation, whose song «Into the New World» became a protest anthem, announced that it had paid for meals in advance for the demonstrators. “Stay safe and take care of your health”she wrote on a discussion platform. Several thousand Yoon Suk Yeol supporters also gathered in central Seoul, waving South Korean and American flags and calling for the arrest of opposition leaders. “Yoon had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of all the decisions he has made as president.Choi Hee-sun, 62, told AFP.

On December 7, a first impeachment motion failed, most of the deputies from Yoon Suk Yeol's People Power Party (PPP) having left the chamber before the vote to prevent the quorum from being reached. To be adopted, the motion must receive at least 200 votes out of 300. The opposition led by the Democratic Party has 192 seats, and the PPP 108. Mr. Yoon's opponents must therefore switch at least eight MPs from the PPP to their camp to achieve his downfall. So far, seven PPP MPs have said they will vote for impeachment. According to local media, many deputies have not yet made their decision a few hours before the vote.

Yoon Suk Yeol is now suspended while waiting for the Constitutional Court to validate his dismissal. The interim is held by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The Court will have 180 days to rule. With only six of its nine judges in office – three others retired in October and have not yet been replaced – they will have to decide unanimously. If the Court upholds the impeachment, Yoon Suk Yeol, 63, will become the second president in South Korean history to suffer this fate, after Park Geun-hye in 2017.

“History will remember your choice”

But there is also a precedent for impeachment voted by Parliament then invalidated two months later by the Constitutional Court: that of Roh Moo-hyun in 2004. The leader of the Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, urged PPP deputies to rally to his cause. “History will remember your choice”he told them Friday. “We can’t stand Yoon’s madness anymore”party spokesperson Hwang Jung-a said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the police net is tightening on the president and his collaborators. On Friday, prosecutors announced the arrest of the head of Seoul's military command, and a Seoul court issued arrest warrants for the heads of the national police and the capital police, citing a “risk of destruction of evidence”. Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, considered the person who pushed the president to impose martial law, was the first to be arrested on December 8. He attempted suicide two days later in detention.

Yoon Suk Yeol stunned South Korea on the night of December 3 to 4 by establishing martial law, a first in more than four decades in the country, and sending army special forces to Parliament to try to prevent deputies from meeting. But 190 elected officials still managed to enter the building, sometimes by climbing the fences. They unanimously voted for a motion demanding the lifting of martial law, while their aides prevented soldiers from barging into the chamber by barricading the doors with tables, chairs and sofas. The president finally complied, repealing the martial law proclaimed only six hours earlier and sending the soldiers back to their barracks.