Opposition lawmakers in South Korea moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday after he shocked the East Asian democracy by declaring martial law only to lift the order hours later under intense pressure.
Six opposition parties, led by the Democratic Party that controls the parliament, submitted articles of impeachment against Yoon on Wednesday afternoon local time, swiftly responding to what the Democratic Party called the Yoon administration’s “unconstitutional and illegal declaration of martial law.”
Voting on the Yoon impeachment motion, which requires a two-thirds majority vote by members of the unicameral legislature to pass, could take place as early as Friday or Saturday. The Constitutional Court would then hold a trial to determine whether to confirm the impeachment motion.
The Democratic Party later said it had also submitted articles of impeachment against Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun. Kim said he had resigned, and that all responsibility for the martial law declaration “lies with me alone.”
The Democrats’ chief spokesperson, Cho Seung-rae, said earlier that the party would also seek to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, and that Yoon, Kim and Lee should also be charged with insurrection, along with the martial law commander, Gen. Park Ahn-soo, National Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun and other key military and police participants.
The leader of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP), Han Dong-hoon, said the six hours of martial law “nearly brought the nation to a halt,” and that the party “respects and abides by the spirit of our constitution.”
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He said PPP officials were discussing whether Yoon should leave the party, but he stopped short of saying Yoon should step down as president, saying the party would investigate the full circumstances.
Government officials rushed to reassure South Koreans, many of whom slept through the country’s six hours of martial law, which began late Tuesday night and ended by Wednesday morning.
“I fully understand the great anxiety you must be feeling,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in a statement, adding that he took full responsibility “for all the processes that have led to the current situation.”
“From this moment onward, the Cabinet will dedicate itself, alongside public officials from all ministries, to ensuring the nation’s stability and the uninterrupted continuation of your daily lives,” he said.
Yoon’s office said Wednesday that his chief of staff and all senior presidential secretaries had tendered their resignation. But there was no other comment from Yoon, who canceled his official schedule for the day.
Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, welcomed Yoon’s order to rescind emergency martial law.
“We continue to expect political disagreements to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” Blinken said in a statement.
The South Korean stock market opened as normal on Wednesday, with its benchmark Kospi index ending down 1.44% and the Kosdaq index ending down 1.98%, CNBC reported. South Korea’s currency, the won, regained most of its losses against the dollar after hitting a two-year low overnight on Yoon’s martial law declaration.
At a news conference in Seoul, officials from the S&P credit rating agency said the brief period of martial law was not expected to have an impact on South Korea’s credit rating.
Yoon, whose conservative government took office in 2022, has seen his approval ratings drop as he struggles to advance his agenda against the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which controls parliament. Democratic lawmakers have sought to impeach multiple government officials and are in a fight with Yoon over next year’s budget.
Yoon made the surprise martial law announcement in a late-night TV address on Tuesday, accusing opposition lawmakers of paralyzing the government and saying he was declaring a state of emergency “in order to protect the constitutional order based on freedom and eradicate shameful pro-North Korea anti-state groups, that are stealing freedom and happiness of our people.”
Yoon, who takes a harder line on North Korea than his Democratic Party predecessor, said his order would also protect South Korea from the nuclear-armed communist state, with which the South technically remains at war.
Soon after Yoon’s announcement, a martial law proclamation stated that all political activities, including demonstrations and the operations of the National Assembly, were prohibited. It also declared all media and publications under the control of the Martial Law Command, and ordered the country’s striking doctors to return to work within 48 hours.
It was the first time since 1980 that martial law had been declared in South Korea, a country of 50 million people that spent decades under military-authoritarian rule but has since transitioned into a vibrant democracy and the world’s 10th-largest economy.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that they had not been notified in advance about Yoon’s announcement, but affirmed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, which hosts about 28,500 American troops.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the martial law order had “essentially no impact” on U.S. forces.
Within minutes of Yoon’s announcement, lawmakers began arriving at the National Assembly in central Seoul, where police blocked them from entering. The Ministry of National Defense also deployed between 200 and 300 armed troops to the National Assembly grounds via helicopter, Kim Min-gi, secretary-general of the National Assembly, said Wednesday.
Throngs of protesters also arrived at the building in opposition to the martial law declaration.
Within a few hours lawmakers passed a resolution to nullify Yoon’s declaration, and soldiers promptly followed an order to leave the National Assembly. Yoon’s People Power Party urged the president to accept lawmakers’ decision and rescind the martial law order.
In a televised address to the nation as dawn approached, Yoon said he had accepted the National Assembly resolution and that martial law would be lifted as soon as a quorum of cabinet members could be reached at the odd hour.
“Having said that, I strongly urge the National Assembly to immediately cease the repeated acts of impeachment, legislative manipulation and budgetary sabotage that paralyze the nation’s functions,” he said.
The martial law order was lifted around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday local time (2:30 p.m. Tuesday ET). South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said deployed troops returned at 4:22 a.m. and that no unusual activity had been detected from North Korea.
After an emergency virtual meeting with senior commanders on Wednesday, JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo said the South Korean military would “prioritize the protection of citizen safety.”
Woo Won-sik, chairman of the National Assembly, said the military’s immediate withdrawal from the building “demonstrates a mature and democratic military.”
“Even our citizens, who carry the painful memory of past military coups, would have observed the military’s maturity in today’s situation,” Woo said.
Kim, the National Assembly secretary-general, said its “unlawful closure,” the obstruction of lawmakers’ entry and the deployment of military forces had “inflicted deep wounds on the hearts of the people.”
He said Ministry of National Defense personnel, police and related parties were barred from entering the National Assembly as an emergency measure “to protect lawmakers and ensure the functioning of the Assembly.”
Stella Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea, and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
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