The beleaguered ruling People Power Party (PPP) has decided to impede the opposition parties’ moves to impeach Yoon at the National Assembly.
The PPP has held internal meetings to determine its next steps after Yoon unexpectedly created a crisis by declaring martial law around at 10:25 p.m. KST on December 3. Although Yoon lifted martial law in the early morning of December 4, three hours after the National Assembly nullified his declaration, the PPP’s leader, Han Dong-hoon, clearly stated that the declaration was illegal and asked Yoon to leave the party. Han also apologized to the people regarding the confusion and the anxiety they had to experience due to Yoon’s declaration of martial law.
However, Han argued that punishing those who are responsible for this incident – including Yoon – is more important than creating another unstable situation by proceeding with the impeachment process of Yoon at the moment.
The main opposition Democratic Party has vowed to keep proposing a bill on Yoon’s impeachment to the National Assembly until either the president resigns or the PPP lawmakers join them to pass the bill. Han urged Yoon to leave the party before letting his party supporters experience the painful backlash they had to go through in 2016 when the impeachment bill over Park Geun-hye was passed at the National Assembly. Her impeachment was unanimously upheld by the Constitutional Court in March 2017.
However, Yoon is unlikely to leave the party as the majority of the 108 PPP lawmakers are believed to be pro-Yoon, making Han’s voice esoteric. Yoon said the main reason behind his declaration of martial law was to draw attention to the severe constraints the DP-controlled National Assembly was imposing on his policies and statesmanship. He clearly doesn’t recognize the egregiousness of the step he took, which implies he will not either resign or leave the party.
There are roughly 20 lawmakers who are closely working with Han, but it is unclear whether they will vote to impeach Yoon on Saturday, considering the party’s decision not to vote for the bill setting up the impeachment proceedings.
Hours after Yoon lifted martial law, the main opposition Democratic Party and the other five opposition parties jointly proposed a bill to the National Assembly calling for a vote on suspending Yoon’s presidential powers and authorities. If passed, Yoon’s presidential duties would be suspended immediately; both sides would then have to wait until the Constitutional Court makes a decision on whether or not to uphold impeachment.
To pass the bill, the DP and other opposition parties need to persuade at least eight PPP lawmakers to join with them, the bill must pass with the support of the two-thirds of the 300-seat National Assembly.
The vote has to be conducted within 72 hours after the bill was proposed, meaning the latest it could be held would be 12:08 a.m. KST on December 8. According to Cho Seung-rae, DP’s spokesperson, the vote will be held at 7 p.m. KST on Saturday, December 7. The DP seems to have scheduled the vote on Saturday night, not Friday, to pressure the PPP lawmakers while providing enough time for the people to digest the series of the events that have rapidly unfolded since Yoon’s declaration of martial law. Also, a bill calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the allegations against Yoon’s wife will be tabled in a plenary session for a vote on Saturday. PPP lawmakers will likely attend the plenary session to vote against that bill, which they have vowed to impede.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the DP who was a contender against Yoon during the 2022 presidential election, expressed pessimism about the impeachment vote succeeding on Saturday. However, he said Yoon will eventually be impeached and implied it is a matter of time.
According to the Presidential Office on December 5, Yoon accepted Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s resignation. Kim had expressed his intention to resign after Yoon lifted martial law. He is known as the key figure who suggested that Yoon declare martial law and commanded the operations of the martial law army troops and airborne troops that were deployed to the National Assembly minutes after Yoon made the declaration.
The DP initially proposed a bill to impeach Kim along with Yoon, but that bill is no longer effective due to Yoon’s acceptance of the defense minister’s resignation. However, he has not yet accepted the resignation of Army Chief of Staff Park An-soo, who headed the short-lived Martial Law Command.
South Korea’s prosecutor general Shim Woo-jeong ordered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office to investigate Yoon on charges of treason, according to breaking news reported by local media on December 5. As Yoon and Kim have been accused of committing treason, the prosecution also has forbidden Kim from leaving the country.
South Korea’s largest labor union has kicked off an indefinite strike and has demanded Yoon to resign. Yoon has not made any public statement since he announced his decision to lift martial law at 4:30 a.m. KST on December 4.
