A man watches South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from "communist forces" amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. Anthony Wallace, AFP

A man watches South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from "communist forces" amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill.

SOUTH KOREA

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733650411695120424_South Korea 1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A man watches South Korea&#x27;s President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from &quot;communist forces&quot; amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. Anthony Wallace, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A man watches South Korea&#x27;s President Yoon Suk Yeol speak during a news broadcast on a television at a train station in Seoul on December 3, 2024, after he declared emergency martial law, saying the step was necessary to protect the country from &quot;communist forces&quot; amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. <em>Anthony Wallace, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea&#x27;s main opposition party said Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law.</p><p>Meanwhile police arrested the defense minister in charge of the martial law operation, and the interior minister resigned. Both they and Yoon are being investigated for alleged insurrection.</p><p>Yoon averted impeachment late Saturday as huge crowds braved freezing temperatures in another night of protests outside parliament to demand the president&#x27;s ouster.</p><p>Opposition parties proposed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes in the 300-member parliament to pass, but a near-total boycott by Yoon&#x27;s People Power Party (PPP) doomed it to failure.</p><p>Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said Sunday that they will try again on December 14.</p><p>&quot;Yoon, the principal culprit behind the insurrection and military coup that destroyed South Korea&#x27;s constitutional order, must either resign immediately or be impeached without delay,&quot; Lee told reporters.</p><p>&quot;On December 14, our Democratic Party will impeach Yoon in the name of the people.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/7/watch-south-korea-president-yoon-apologizes-for-martial-law-declaration-1528">WATCH: South Korea President Yoon apologizes for martial law declaration</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Soft coup&#x27; -</strong></div><p>In exchange for blocking his removal from office, Yoon&#x27;s People Power Party (PPP) said that it had &quot;effectively obtained (Yoon&#x27;s) promise to step down&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Even before the president steps down, he will not interfere in state affairs, including foreign affairs,&quot; PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said Sunday after a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.</p><p>This will &quot;minimize the confusion to South Korea and its people, stably resolve the political situation and recover liberal democracy,&quot; Han told reporters.</p><p>But Lee and the National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik, both from the opposition Democratic Party (DP), on Sunday called the arrangement illegal.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/7/south-korea-president-escapes-impeachment-over-martial-law-fiasco-2129">READ: South Korea president escapes impeachment over martial law fiasco</a></div><p>&quot;For the prime minister and the ruling party to jointly exercise presidential authority, which no one has granted them, without participating in constitutional processes to address unconstitutional martial law, is a clear violation of the Constitution,&quot; Woo said.</p><p>&quot;The power of the president is not the personal property of President Yoon Suk Yeol,&quot; said Lee. &quot;Isn’t this another coup that destroys the constitutional order?&quot;</p><p>Kim Hae-won, a constitutional law professor at Pusan National University Law School, called it a an &quot;unconstitutional soft coup.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In reality, a political party is merely a private political entity, and handing over the president&#x27;s functions to an entity that is neither a constitutional institution nor a state body seems like an action that disrupts the state&#x27;s rights,&quot; Kim told AFP.</p><div><strong>- Sorry -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABRdVRlL0wqgO146&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>On Saturday before the vote, Yoon, 63, reappeared for the first time in three days and apologized for the &quot;anxiety and inconvenience&quot; caused by his declaration of martial law.</p><p>But he stopped short of stepping down, saying he would leave it to his party to decide his fate.</p><p>Massive crowds -- police said there were 150,000 people, organisers one million -- gathered outside parliament to pressure lawmakers to oust the president.</p><p>Many wore elaborate outfits, carrying home-made flags and waving colourful glow sticks and LED candles as K-pop tunes blasted from speakers.</p><p>&quot;Even though we didn&#x27;t get the outcome we wanted today, I am neither discouraged nor disappointed because we will get it eventually,&quot; said protester Jo Ah-gyeong, 30, after the impeachment vote.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ll keep coming here until we get it,&quot; she told AFP.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/7/south-korea-president-stops-short-of-resigning-after-martial-law-fiasco-1056">READ: South Korea president stops short of resigning after martial law fiasco</a></div><div><strong>- Insurrection -</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733650455876120424_South Korea 5.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="South Korean lawmakers watch screens showing a news broadcast of President Yoon Suk Yeol&#x27;s speech on lifting martial law, at the main conference hall of the National Assembly in Seoul on December 4, 2024. Yonhap/AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">South Korean lawmakers watch screens showing a news broadcast of President Yoon Suk Yeol&#x27;s speech on lifting martial law, at the main conference hall of the National Assembly in Seoul on December 4, 2024. <em>Yonhap/AFP</em></span></span></span></strong>Regardless of the political situation, police are investigating Yoon and others for alleged insurrection over the extraordinary events of Tuesday night.</div><p>Early Sunday police arrested Kim Yong-hyun, who quit as defence minister on Wednesday and was slapped with a travel ban, reports said.</p><p>Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Sunday tendered his resignation which was accepted, Yoon&#x27;s office said.</p><p>Declaring martial law late Tuesday, Yoon said it would safeguard South Korea &quot;from the threats posed by North Korea&#x27;s communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements plundering people&#x27;s freedom and happiness&quot;.</p><p>Security forces sealed the National Assembly, helicopters landed on the roof and almost 300 soldiers tried to lock down the building.</p><p>But as parliamentary staffers blocked the soldiers with sofas and fire extinguishers, enough MPs got inside -- many climbed walls to enter -- and voted down Yoon&#x27;s move.</p><p>The episode brought back painful memories of South Korea&#x27;s autocratic past and blindsided its allies, with the US administration only finding out via television.</p><p>&quot;This is a country we&#x27;ve spent our entire lives building,&quot; Shin Jae-hyung, 66, who suffered arrest and torture in the 1970s and 80s as he battled successive military-led regimes, told AFP.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>South Korea's main opposition party said Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law.</p>

South Korea's main opposition party said Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law.

South Korean opposition plans new impeachment push | ABS-CBN

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South Korean opposition plans new impeachment push

South Korean opposition plans new impeachment push

Agence France-Presse,

Kang Jin-kyu

Published Dec 08, 2024 06:20 PM PHT

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