Prime Minister Han Duck-soo
South Korea impeaches acting president, extending upheaval
Lawmakers have impeached acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, deepening South Korea’s political turmoil. The nation’s political scene is likely to be confrontational and chaotic for the foreseeable future.
South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted on Friday to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo.
The move further deepens the political crisis in the East Asian nation that began after President Yoon Suk Yeol suddenly declared martial law earlier this month.
The martial law lasted only for six hours before Yoon was forced to rescind the order.
Lawmakers subsequently voted to impeach the president. Following the motion, Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended, and Han, who was previously the prime minister, became acting president.
It is now up to the country’s Constitutional Court to decide whether to remove Yoon permanently from office or restore his powers. Judges have begun deliberations in the case.
Why was Han impeached?
There are currently three vacancies on the top court’s nine-judge bench.
The opposition Democratic Party, which currently holds a majority in South Korea’s parliament, had demanded Han to fill the positions immediately.
If the three vacancies aren’t filled, all six sitting justices would need to support Yoon’s impeachment for it to succeed.
Opposition politicians also called for launching a special probe into Yoon’s martial law declaration to bring him to justice.
Han and his ruling People Power Party, however, rejected the opposition’s demand, arguing that an acting president doesn’t hold the power to appoint Constitutional Court justices.
Ahead of the vote, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik said the motion to impeach Han could pass with a simple majority of 151 votes.
The National Assembly ended up passing Han’s impeachment motion, with 192 lawmakers voting to impeach Han out of the 300-member parliament.
South Korean leadership in limbo after martial law fiasco.
‘Minimizing government turmoil’
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has now stepped in as the new acting president. He said he would do everything in his power to restore stability and end the political turmoil gripping his country.
“Minimizing governmental turmoil is of utmost importance at this moment,” Choi was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying in an address shortly after his appointment as acting leader. “The government will also dedicate all its efforts to overcoming this period of turmoil.”
Experts believe the political crisis will continue until a new presidential election is held.
“Yoon’s impeachment is not the end of South Korea’s political turmoil. It is not even the beginning of the end, which will ultimately involve the election of a new president,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said recently.
Easley cautioned that the deep polarization that exists today in South Korean society remains a threat.
“While it is to be expected that a legislative opposition will use its investigative and budgetary powers in the struggle between partisan agendas, there should be accountability mechanisms against causing prolonged government dysfunction and paralysis,” he told DW.
What’s the impact on foreign affairs?
After Han became South Korea’s interim leader less than two weeks ago, he sought to reassure foreign allies and diplomatic partners that things were returning to normal. But his impeachment now shines a spotlight on the deep political divide in the country.
Choi, the new acting president, said Friday that the government has ordered the military to step up vigilance and be ready to prevent North Korea from miscalculating the situation and launching provocations.
He also told the Foreign Ministry to inform the US, Japan and other major partners that South Korea’s foreign policies remain unchanged.
Kim Sang-woo, a former politician with the left-leaning South Korean Congress for New Politics and now a member of the board of the Kim Dae-Jung Peace Foundation, had warned previously that if the opposition pursues more investigations, the government could become paralyzed as decisions could not be made or carried out.
“If the administration is so fragile, who has the responsibility for conducting foreign affairs?” he asked. “It is clear that for some time, there is going to be some confusion.”