S. Korea's Parliament Impeaches Acting President

[Graybeard]

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/south-korea-parliament-impeaches/2024/12/27/id/1193005/

Friday, 27 December 2024 07:18 AM EST

South Korea's parliament impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday, less than two weeks after suspending President Yoon Suk Yeol's powers over his short-lived declaration of martial law, plunging the country deeper into political chaos.

The impeachment of prime minister Han, the acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14 for declaring martial law on Dec. 3, has pushed South Korea's once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who assumed the position of acting president while the cases of Yoon and Han are considered by the Constitutional Court, convened the National Security Council, spoke with key officials including military leaders and vowed to do everything in his power to stabilize state affairs.

The unexpected imposition of martial law and the ensuing political upheaval sent shockwaves through Asia's fourth-largest economy, and drew concerns from allies in the United States and Europe who had seen Yoon as a key partner in efforts to counter China, Russia and North Korea.

Han's sudden ouster adds to the uncertainty, and Choi may also face removal if he too clashes with the opposition-led parliament.

"The government must do its best to ensure that the people do not become anxious, or the security of the country and people's daily lives are not shaken," Choi said, according to a statement from his office.

Earlier, Choi had pleaded unsuccessfully with parliament to withdraw the plan to impeach Han, saying it would do serious damage to the economy.

The Korean won was down 0.5% at 1,477.0 per dollar as of 1100 GMT, after hitting a more than 15-year low of 1,486.7 ahead of the vote.

"In terms of financial markets, [Choi] taking charge can only be bad news, as it only goes to show that political turmoil is ongoing," said Huh Jae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.

The country could plunge into economic troubles comparable to its devastating financial crisis of the late 1990s, said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.

The impeachment of Han came after he declined to immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court, saying it would exceed his acting role.

Han said he accepted the outcome. "In order to avoid further chaos and uncertainty, I will suspend my duties in accordance with relevant laws," he said.

He added he would await the decision of the Constitutional Court to review the impeachment motion.

The motion led by opposition parties passed with 192 votes in favor and no opposed after the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote. PPP members surrounded the speaker's podium, chanting that the vote was invalid and parliament had engaged in "tyranny."

Ahead of the parliamentary session, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, which has majority control of parliament, accused Han of "acting for insurrection."

Until just before voting began, it was unclear how many votes were needed to impeach Han. The threshold for a prime minister is a simple majority, while a two-thirds majority is needed for a president.

Speaker Woo Won-shik declared a simple majority would constitute parliamentary approval, but the People Power Party said it had filed a constitutional court petition declaring that such a threshold was too low to remove an acting president.

Also on Friday, the Constitutional Court held its first hearing to review whether to reinstate Yoon or remove him permanently from office. It has 180 days to reach a decision.

At a preparatory hearing, Justice Cheong Hyung-sik denied a request by Yoon's lawyers for a postponement in proceedings to better prepare and said the court would move swiftly.

The next hearing is due on Jan. 3.

A lawyer representing Yoon later told reporters the impeached president planned to appear in person in future.

He was not required to attend Friday's hearing. He has previously ignored court requests to submit documents as well as summons in a separate criminal case over his martial law declaration.

If he is ousted, a new presidential election would be held within 60 days.

There has been overwhelming public support for Yoon's removal, opinion polls showed after his martial law attempt.

Yoon shocked the country and the world with a late-night announcement on Dec. 3 that he was imposing martial law to overcome political deadlock and root out "anti-state forces."

Within hours, however, 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police and voted against Yoon's order. About six hours after his initial decree, Yoon rescinded it.

Events since the declaration have sparked South Korea's gravest political crisis since 1987, when protests forced the ruling party of former military generals to accept a direct, popular vote to elect the president.

On Friday, prosecutors indicted former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun in the first move to put on trial an official accused of insurrection, Yonhap news said.

[ironglow]

  This onset of South Korean unrest seems uncharacteristic of those folks, Bill.  Do you have any idea what has suddednly put a burr under their
   saddles?

[Graybeard]

Yes actually I do.

Their elected President not long ago, within a month let's say declared martial law and sent the military to stop their version of our congress. Before they could get to the congress they voted to end the martial law and so the military stood down.

They took a vote to impeach the President but it failed. They took another impeachment vote within a few days and it passed. So he has been removed and a replacement installed.

I'm not really sure exactly why but now he too has been impeached and has to stand down and a third person has now been put in.

They have a slightly different impeachment process than us and a national court rather than a senate like us will try them both on the charges brought against them.

The first President claimed he had to implement martial law due to the opposition being pawns for North Korea and that they were about to be taken over. I have no clue if there was any truth in that.

For now their country is really on the brink and may or may not come out of this intact and the same as before it began.

[Graybeard]

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/u-s-south-korea-political-crisis/2024/12/27/id/1193052/

A deepening political crisis in South Korea has not diminished the military readiness of 28,500 troops stationed in the Asian state, a U.S. official said on Friday, but Washington is closely monitoring the situation.

South Korea's parliament impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday, less than two weeks after suspending President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration, plunging the country further into political chaos.

The United States has troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War. After the martial law declaration this month, the U.S. and South Korea had postponed a tabletop exercise and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin scrapped a trip to South Korea.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while the United States was monitoring the latest developments on Friday, there had been no impact on military readiness on the Korean peninsula.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The unexpected imposition of martial law and the ensuing political upheaval drew concerns from allies in the U.S. and Europe who had seen Yoon as a partner in efforts to counter China, Russia and North Korea.

U.S. and South Korean officials say more than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's Kursk region to help push back Ukrainian forces.

A thousand North Korean troops have been killed or wounded in the last week alone in the Kursk region of Russia, the White House said on Friday.

[Graybeard]

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/south-korea-han-acting-president-yoon-impeach/2024/12/27/id/1193034/

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The impeachment of South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo Friday has plunged the country into further political turmoil, coming less than two weeks after lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials are unprecedented, and the deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is now South Korea's new interim leader. Upon taking over power, Choi swiftly ordered the military to boost readiness to thwart potential North Korean aggressions and told diplomats to reassure key partners like the U.S. and Japan.

“(Han’s) impeachment now creates an opportunity for external threats while causing Korea’s foreign partners to alienate it from the global community,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

A look at the latest developments on the South Korean political tumult, which began with Yoon’s short-lived Dec. 3 martial law.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the No. 2 official in South Korea, became the acting leader after the assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14 over his martial law decree that brought hundreds of troops into Seoul streets and harkened back to the days of military rule in the 1960-70s.

Han, a career bureaucrat, tried to reassure major diplomatic partners and stabilize markets. But he was embroiled in political strife with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the assembly. A major trigger for Han’s impeachment was his refusal to accept a DP demand that he immediately appoint three vacant justices’ seats at the Constitutional Court to enhance fairness and public confidence in its ruling on Yoon’s impeachment.

Restoring the court’s full nine-member panel is crucial because a court ruling to remove Yoon from office needs backing from at least six justices, and a full bench will likely increase the prospects for Yoon’s ouster. Han said he wouldn’t appoint the justices without bipartisan consent, but critics suspect he was siding with Yoon’s loyalists at the governing People Power Party, or PPP, who want to see Yoon regaining power.

Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership, said Han lacked legitimate reasons to go against the appointment of the court justices. But he noted that DP shouldn’t have pursued Han’s impeachment so hurriedly.

Han’s impeachment came as South Korea has been telling the world that things have returned to normal in the aftermath of the marital law incident, which caused worries from neighbors, halted high-level diplomacy and shook financial markets.

Yoon’s martial law stunt baffled policy makers in the U.S, Japan and Europe as he has been their key diplomatic partner against shared challenges including China's assertiveness, North Korean nuclear threats and vulnerabilities in global supply chains.

“South Korea is now in a far more serious crisis of leadership and governance. The DP’s political gambit is actually putting the country’s economy and national security at grave risk,” Duyeon Kim said. “Han had the experience and credentials to deal with both security and financial crises if they arise during South Korea’s political uncertainty.”

Choi Jin doubted acting leader Choi would smoothly engage with diplomacy with world leaders. “We’ll suffer a disgrace internationally and our international credibility will plunge," he said. “Negative effects on economy, culture and all other sectors will likely come quietly and extensively."

The governing party argued Han's impeachment was “invalid” because it passed with a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP.

There are no specific laws on the impeachment of an acting president, and the PPP filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to review the vote.

It's not clear when the court will rule on that request. The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to uphold the impeachment of both Yoon and Han, though their decisions are expected to come sooner.

Han called his impeachment “regrettable” but said he respects the assembly’s decision.

The court had its first pretrial on Yoon's case on Friday. If Yoon is thrown out of office, a national election to find his successor must take place within 60 days. Yoon and others face separate probes by investigative agencies on allegations that they committed rebellion, abuse of power and other crimes in connection with the martial law decree.

According to surveys, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is a clear favorite to win a possible presidential by-election in the event of Yoon's ouster. But Lee has own legal issues, and could possibly be prohibited from running for president if the appellate and Supreme courts uphold his lower court conviction for election law violation in November.

If he becomes president, his trials would stop because South Korean law give a sitting president immunity from most criminal prosecution.

[ironglow]

  From what I have been able to gather, S Korea's Democrat party has been more or less centerest, but in recent years has followed a similar course
  as the American Democratic party has.

  THey seem to have contracted the same sickness (or sin-ness) as the American Democrat party.  They both have apparently been taken over by a
  radical element that wants to court world communism.

  One wpould think that they of all people, can see the difference between what capitalism has done for S Korea, compared to what communism has
   done to N Korea..

   ..Which is why I consider both democrat parties in Korea or the USA, to not be so much confused as possessed..

  Although Yoon appears to have acted a bit rashly, he may have had a reason.  It seems he believed there was an iminent coup possible, where
  N Korea may try to move in..   Perhaps it is fortunate that N Korea is so busy in Ukraine at this time.

   This, from an article just prior to Yoon's removal ;

   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/5/who-takes-over-if-south-koreas-president-yoon-is-removed



   https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-Democratic-Party-in-South-Korea-compare-to-the-Democratic-Party-in-the-US