{"id":59113,"date":"2024-12-14T15:13:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T10:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=59113"},"modified":"2024-12-14T15:13:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T10:13:51","slug":"south-koreas-parliament-impeach-president-yeol-over-his-martial-law-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/world\/south-koreas-parliament-impeach-president-yeol-over-his-martial-law-order\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea\u2019s parliament impeach President Yeol over his martial law order"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL (AP): South Korea\u2019s parliament voted Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol<\/a> over his short-lived martial law decree<\/span>, a historic rebuke that was cheered by jubilant crowds who described the outcome as another defiant moment in the nation\u2019s resilient democratic journey.<\/p>\n

The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85 in a floor vote. Yoon\u2019s presidential powers and duties will be suspended and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country\u2019s No. 2 official, will take over his authority once copies of a document on the impeachment are delivered to Yoon and to the Constitutional Court.<\/p>\n

The court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers. If he\u2019s thrown out of office, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.<\/p>\n

It was the second National Assembly vote on Yoon\u2019s impeachment motion. Last Saturday,\u00a0Yoon survived<\/span> an impeachment vote after most ruling party lawmakers boycotted the floor vote.<\/p>\n

\"\"
South Korean lawmakers attend the plenary session of the impeachment vote of President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly in Seoul, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Woohae Cho\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some People Power Party lawmakers had since announced their intentions to vote for Yoon\u2019s impeachment in a second vote, as public protests against Yoon intensified and his approval rating plummeted.<\/p>\n

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik said Yoon\u2019s impeachment was an outcome driven by \u201cthe people\u2019s ardent desire for democracy, courage and dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered near the parliament and were in jubilation, waved banners, and brandished colorful K-pop glow sticks, as a lead activist shouted on stage \u201cWe have preserved the constitutional order!\u201d<\/p>\n

In a central Seoul plaza, another huge crowd of people supporting Yoon gathered, but they grew subdued after hearing Yoon had been impeached. Both rallies have largely been peaceful.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Participants gather during a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kim Do-hoon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yoon issued a statement saying he would \u201cnever give up\u201d and calling for officials to maintain stability in government functions during what he described as a \u201ctemporary\u201d pause of his presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cHolding in my heart all the criticism, encouragement, and support directed at me, I will do my best for the country until the very last moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yoon\u2019s Dec. 3 imposition of martial law,\u00a0the first of its kind<\/span> in more than four decades in South Korea, lasted only six hours but has caused massive\u00a0political tumult,<\/span> halted diplomatic activities, and rattled financial markets. Yoon was forced to\u00a0lift his decree<\/span>\u00a0after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.<\/p>\n

After declaring\u00a0martial law,<\/span> Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament to try to impede its vote on the decree, before they withdrew after the parliament rejected it. No major violence occurred.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties and many experts accuse Yoon of rebellion, citing a law that categorizes as rebellion the staging of a riot against established state authorities to undermine the constitution. They also say that a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and has no right to suspend parliament\u2019s operations even under martial law.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Farmers carry a coffin symbolizing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol\u2019s government before a rally to demand his impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ahn Young-joon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The impeachment motion alleged that Yoon \u201ccommitted rebellion that hurts peace in the Republic of Korea by staging a series of riots.\u201d It said Yoon\u2019s mobilization of military and police forces threatened the National Assembly and the public and that his martial law decree was aimed at disturbing the Constitution.<\/p>\n

In a fiery speech on Thursday, Yoon had rejected the rebellion charges, calling his order an act of governance. The conservative Yoon said he aimed to issue a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, calling it \u201ca monster\u201d and \u201canti-state forces\u201d that he argued has flexed its legislative muscle to impeach top officials and undermine the government\u2019s budget bill for next year. He claimed the deployment of troops was meant to maintain order, rather than disrupt it.<\/p>\n

Democratic Party leader\u00a0Lee Jae-myung<\/span> called Yoon\u2019s speech a \u201cmad declaration of war\u201d against his own people.<\/p>\n

Observers say Yoon\u2019s speech suggested a focus on legal preparations to defend his martial law decree at the Constitutional Court, even as opinion surveys showed more than 70% of South Koreans supported his impeachment. A survey released Friday put Yoon\u2019s approval rating at 11%, the lowest since he took office in 2022.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yoon is the third South Korean president impeached while in office. In 2016, parliament impeached\u00a0Park Geun-hye<\/span>, the country\u2019s first woman president, over a corruption scandal. The Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment and dismissed her from office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEOUL (AP): South Korea\u2019s parliament voted Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law decree, a historic rebuke that was cheered by jubilant crowds who described the outcome as another defiant moment in the nation\u2019s resilient democratic journey. The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85 in a floor vote. Yoon\u2019s presidential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":59117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13446,3],"tags":[24781,24491],"class_list":["post-59113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-world","tag-president-yoon-suk-yeol","tag-south-korean-president"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59118,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59113\/revisions\/59118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}