South Korea: Pres. Yoon Escapes Impeachment
South Korean Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol avoided impeachment on Saturday when his ruling People Power Party (PPP) members walked out of parliament, preventing the two-thirds majority needed for the vote to proceed....
Facts
- South Korean Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol avoided impeachment on Saturday when his ruling People Power Party (PPP) members walked out of parliament, preventing the two-thirds majority needed for the vote to proceed.[1][2]
- Opposition parties, which hold 192 of 300 parliamentary seats, needed at least eight additional votes from Yoon's party to reach the 200-vote threshold required for impeachment.[3]
- The impeachment attempt followed Yoon's controversial declaration of martial law on Tuesday night, which was quickly overturned by parliament and lifted within hours amid widespread protests.[4]
- Earlier Saturday, Yoon made a televised apology for the martial law declaration, expressing regret and promising to delegate decision=making to his party.[5]
- PPP leader Han Dong-hun claimed to have received intelligence that Yoon had ordered the defense counterintelligence commander to arrest key politicians during the brief martial law period, citing alleged 'anti-state activities.'[6]
- According to recent polls, nearly 74% of South Koreans supported the impeachment motion, with Yoon's approval rating dropping to 13%, the lowest since taking office in May 2022.[7]
Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]Newsweek, [3]Dw.Com, [4]Al Jazeera, [5]CBS, [6]Guardian and [7]Koreatimes.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Koreatimes. Yoon's impeachment is unavoidable and necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy from an unconstitutional power grab that endangered the nation's democratic institutions. The president's martial law declaration amounted to an attempted self-coup that warrants his immediate removal from office.
- Narrative B, as provided by Korea Herald and CBS. The impeachment motion was politically motivated and would have caused unnecessary national division and instability. A more orderly transition through party-led negotiations would better serve the country's interests than a rushed impeachment process. The PPP will take appropriate steps to stabilize the political situation.
