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SoKor president impeached over ML debacle
By Nidz Godino
“Today’s impeachment is the great victory of people,” opposition Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said following vote South Korean lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with opposition declaring “victory of the people.”
Vote took place as hundreds of thousands took to streets of Seoul in rival rallies for and against Yoon, who launched failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3.
Out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection while 85 voted against. Three abstained, with eight votes nullified.
With impeachment, Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates on vote.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is now nation’s interim leader.
Court now has 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
Two hundred votes were needed for impeachment to pass, and opposition lawmakers needed to convince at least eight parliamentarians from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides.
Seoul police official told media at least 200,000 people had massed outside parliament in support of removing the president.
On the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun square, police estimated 30,000 had rallied in support of Yoon, blasting patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags.
The South Korean president has vowed to fight on and doubled down on unsubstantiated claims opposition is in league with country’s communist foes.
Main opposition Democratic Party said ahead of vote that impeachment was “only way” to “safeguard Constitution, rule of law, democracy and South Korea’s future.”
“We can no longer endure Yoon’s madness,” spokeswoman Hwang Jung-a said.
At the rally outside parliament supporting impeachment, volunteers gave out free hand warmers to fight sub-zero temperatures, as well as coffee and food.
K-pop singer Yuri of the band Girl’s Generation whose song “Into the New World” has become protest anthem had pre-paid for food for fans attending demonstration.
“Stay safe and take care of your health!” she said on superfan chat platform.
One protester had rented bus so parents at the rally would have place to change diapers and feed their babies.
Another said they had initially planned to spend their Saturday hiking.
If Constitutional Court backs his removal, Yoon would become second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.
But there is also precedent for court to block impeachment. In 2004, then-president Roh Moo-hyun was removed by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but Constitutional Court later reinstated him.
Court currently only has six judges, meaning their decision must be unanimous.
Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant as fallout from his disastrous martial law declaration has deepened and investigation into his inner circle has widened.
His approval rating never very high has plummeted to 11 percent, according to Gallup Korea poll released on Friday.
Same poll showed 75 percent now support his impeachment.
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