Kim Yong-hyun’s departure was approved by the country’s president, who appointed the ambassador to Saudi Arabia as his replacement
South Korea’s Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, resigned this Thursday (Dec 5, 2024), Wednesday night (Dec 4) in Brazil. The action came after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (Popular Power Party, right), declare martial law and back down after Parliament overturned the measure. The action created a political crisis in the country.
The resignation was confirmed by the president’s office. Choi Byung-hyuk, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was appointed to replace Kim Yong-hyun at the Ministry of Defense.
According to the South Korean news agency, the country’s prosecutor’s office banned the now former defense minister from traveling. He must be investigated for possible treason because of the declaration of martial law.
On Wednesday (Dec 4), before submitting his resignation, Kim Yong-hyun assumed “responsibility for all the turmoil caused” by declaring martial law. He stated that the soldiers deployed to carry out the decree were following his orders and should not suffer reprisals.
“Martial law has been lifted and people are resuming their daily lives, but the domestic political situation and security circumstances are not easy,” he said.
South Korean opposition parties on Wednesday (Dec 4) called for impeachment of the country’s president. Parliament must analyze the measure this Thursday (Dec 5) and vote on the project on Friday (Dec 6) or Saturday (Dec 7).
Yoon Suk-yeol said he declared martial law to contain movements “pro-North Korea”. The measure suspends civil rights, limits the role of the press and the Armed Forces to the government and replaces laws with military regulations.
The South Korean president’s action caused a series of demonstrations and political differences in the country. Because of this, the Poder360 organized the chronology of Tuesday’s episode (Dec 3) to help understand the facts. Read:
- President decrees martial law – at 11pm local time (11am Brasília time), President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law in the country. The measure announced by the South Korean leader suspended civil rights, limited the activities of the press and the Armed Forces to the government and replaced laws with military norms. According to the president, the decree was issued to contain “pro-North Korea” movements in the country. The announcement was followed by citizens going to the National Assembly to protest against the action.
- Leader of the ruling party is against – at around 11:15 pm local time (11:15 am Brasília time), Han Dong-hoon, head of the president’s party, said he was against the measure. He stated that he would work with opposition parliamentarians to overturn the decree.
- Army tries to invade Legislature – around 1 am local time (1 pm Brasília time), soldiers from the South Korean Armed Forces tried to invade the plenary session where the parliamentarians were, who were about to start voting to overturn the presidential measure. Protesters clashed with soldiers.
- Start of voting in the Assembly – at around 1:10 am local time (1:10 pm Brasília time), parliamentarians began voting against the martial law imposed by the president while soldiers were still trying to invade the Legislative headquarters.
- Lawmakers demand suspension of martial law – around 2am local time (2pm Brasília time), the vote to overturn martial law was . The 190 parliamentarians present in the House at the time were against Yoon’s action.
- Army leaves the Legislature – shortly after the vote, the South Korean military left the National Assembly building amid boos from protesters.
- President suspends martial law – at 4:30 am local time (4:30 pm Brasília time), Yoon Suk-yeol announced the decree he announced the night of the previous day. He stated that the decision was motivated by the vote of the National Assembly.
