President Yoon Suk Yeol impeached by Parliament

The South Korean Parliament adopted an impeachment motion on Saturday, December 14, 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. To be adopted, the motion had to receive at least 200 votes out of 300.

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

Tens of thousands of pro and anti-Yoon demonstrators are massed in Seoul, the former in front of Parliament and the latter in the city center. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik opened the session around 4:05 p.m. (8:05 a.m. Paris time). The imposition of martial law “is a clear violation of the Constitution and a serious violation of the law”Park Chan-dae told the audience. “Yoon Suk Yeol is the mastermind of this rebellion”.

“I urge you to vote for impeachment to leave a historic lesson that those who destroy the constitutional order will be held accountable”continued Mr. Park. “Yoon Suk Yeol is the biggest risk for the Republic of Korea”.

On December 7, a first impeachment motion presented by the opposition failed, most of the deputies from Mr. Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) having left the Chamber before the vote to prevent the quorum from being reached.

The Constitutional Court must validate the dismissal

Mr. Yoon, at the same time targeted by an investigation for “rebellion” and who is prohibited from leaving the country, is therefore suspended from his functions while waiting for the Constitutional Court to validate his dismissal. The interim will be held by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The Court has 180 days to rule. With only six of its nine judges in office – three others retired in October and have not been replaced due to the ongoing political deadlock – they will have to decide unanimously.

Mr. Yoon, 63, is the second head of state of South Korea to suffer this fate, after President Park Geun-hye, in 2017. In 2004, a vote to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun by Parliament was invalidated two months later by the Constitutional Court.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung had urged PPP lawmakers to rally behind the impeachment cause, citing their responsibility for history. “What lawmakers need to protect is neither Yoon nor the ruling party (…) but the lives of all the people protesting in the freezing streets”launched Mr. Lee on Friday. “History will remember your choice”he added.

Arrests continue

Meanwhile, the police net is tightening on the president and his close associates. On Friday, prosecutors announced the arrest of the head of Seoul's military command, and the capital's Central District Court issued arrest warrants for the head of the national police and the head of the metropolitan police, quoting a “risk of destruction of evidence”.

Former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun, considered to be the one who pushed the president to impose martial law, was the first to be arrested on December 8. Two days later, he attempted suicide in detention.

Yoon Suk Yeol stunned South Korea on the night of December 3 to 4 by suddenly instituting 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 had finally repealed the martial law proclaimed only six hours earlier and sent the soldiers back to their barracks.

According to a Gallup poll released Friday, Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has reached an all-time low of 11%, and 75% of respondents want him impeached.