The year of 2024 continues to provide us with earth-shattering developments all over the world.
In South Korea, still reeling from the Martial law decree and the attempted – unsuccessful – closure of the Parliament, back in December, lawmakers voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon vowed today to fight for his political future after he lost the second vote to impeach him.
Reuters reported:
“The Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove Yoon sometime in the next six months. If he is removed from office, a snap election will be called.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was appointed by Yoon, became acting president, while Yoon remains in office but with his presidential powers suspended halfway through his five-year term.”
Yoon is the second conservative president in a row to be impeached in South Korea, after Park Geun-hye in 2017.
Yoon even survived a first impeachment vote last Saturday, before some in his party turned on him.
“’Although I am stopping for now, the journey I have walked with the people over the past two and a half years toward the future must never come to a halt. I will never give up’, Yoon said.”
Oposition protesters celebrate Yoon’s impeachment.
Yoon authorized emergency powers to the military, in order to root out what he called ‘anti-state forces’.
He backtracked the martial law six hours later, after parliamentarians sensationally defied troops and police to enter the chambers and vote against the decree.
A hardened political survivor, Yoon is dogged by personal scandals, a relentless opposition and divisions plaguing his own party.
“Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung told protesters near parliament that they should fight together so Yoon was removed as quickly as possible. ‘You, the people, made it. You are writing a new history’, he told the jubilant crowds, who had braved subfreezing temperatures to attend the rally.”
The impeachment was approved after 12 members of Yoon’s People Power Party joined the opposition parties.
The number of votes for the impeachment was 204, with 85 against, three abstentions and eight invalid ballots.
Yoon is now also under criminal investigation for allegations of ‘insurrection’ over the martial law declaration. South Korean authorities have banned him from travelling overseas.
“In another defiant speech on Thursday, Yoon vowed to ‘fight to the end’, defending his martial law decree as necessary to overcome political deadlock and protect the country from domestic politicians who he said were undermining democracy.”
Read more:
Update: South Korean Parliament Votes to Block President’s Emergency Martial Law Decree
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