South Korea’s acting president has been impeached. What to know – National

The impeachment of South Korea acting chairman Han Duck-soo On Friday, the country plunged into further political unrest, less than two weeks after lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The following impeachments that suspends the top two officials of the country are unprecedented, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Choi Sang mugis now the new interim leader of South Korea. When Choi took power, Choi quickly ordered the military to boost readiness to counter potential North Korean aggression and told diplomats to reassure key partners such as the US and Japan.

“(Han’s) impeachment now creates an opportunity for external threats while alienating Korea’s foreign partners from the global community,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

A look at the latest developments on the South Korean political tumult, which began with Yoon’s short-lived December 3 martial law.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the No. 2 official in South Korea, became the acting leader after the assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14 for his confirmation law that brought hundreds of troops into the streets of Seoul and returned to the days of military rule. the years 1960-70.

Han, a career bureaucrat, sought to reassure major diplomatic partners and stabilize markets. But he was embroiled in a political battle with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which has the majority in the assembly. A key trigger for Han’s impeachment was his refusal to accept a DP demand that he immediately appoint three vacant judgeships at the Constitutional Court to improve fairness and public confidence in his ruling on Yoon’s impeachment.

Reinstating the court’s full nine-member panel is crucial because a court decision to remove Yoon from office would need support from at least six justices, and a full bench is likely to raise the prospect of impeachment of Yoon. Han said he would not appoint the justices without bipartisan approval, but critics suspected he would side with Yoon’s loyalists in the ruling People Power Party, or PPP, to see Yoon regain power.

Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute for Presidential Leadership, said Han has no legitimate reasons to oppose the appointment of the judges. But he noted that DP would not have pursued Han’s ouster so hastily.

Han’s impeachment came as South Korea told the world that things were returning to normal in the aftermath of the marriage law incident, which raised concerns from neighbors, halted high-level diplomacy and shook financial markets.

Yoon’s martial law stunt has stunned policymakers in the US, Japan and Europe as he has been their key diplomatic partner against shared challenges, including China’s assertiveness, North Korean nuclear threats and vulnerabilities in global supply chains.

“South Korea is now in a much more serious crisis of leadership and governance. The political template of the DP actually puts the country’s economy and national security at serious risk,” Duyeon Kim said. “Han had the experience and credentials to deal with both security and financial crises as they arise during South Korea’s political uncertainty.”

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Choi Jin doubted that acting leader Choi would smoothly handle diplomacy with world leaders. “We will suffer an international disgrace and our international credibility will drop,” he said. “Negative effects on economy, culture and all other sectors are likely to come quietly and widely.”

The ruling party argued that Han’s impeachment was “invalid” because it passed with a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP.

There are no specific laws on the impeachment of an acting president, and the PPP has petitioned the Constitutional Court to review the vote.

It is not clear when the court will rule on that request. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to uphold the impeachment of both Yoon and Han, although its decisions are expected to come sooner.

Han called his impeachment “unfortunate” but said he respects the assembly’s decision.

The court had its first hearing on Yoon’s case on Friday. If Yoon is thrown out of office, a nationwide election to find his successor must take place within 60 days. Yoon and others face separate probes by investigative agencies over allegations they committed rebellion, abuse of power and other crimes related to the martial law decision.

According to surveys, the leader of the Democratic Party Lee Jae-myung is a clear favorite to win a possible presidential election in the event of Yoon’s impeachment. But Lee has legal problems of his own, and could potentially be barred from running for president if the appeals and Supreme Courts uphold his lower court conviction for violating election law in November.

If he becomes president, his trials would stop because South Korean law gives a sitting president immunity from most criminal prosecution.

& copy 2024 The Canadian Press