The main opposition party in South Korea, the Democratic Party (PD), announced this Thursday your intention to vote on Saturday the motion to impeach the president, Yoon Suk-yeol, for declaring martial law with apparent political motivations. The announcement comes after the motion, signed by 191 opposition parliamentarians on Thursday, was presented in the National Assembly shortly after midnight today. Based on South Korean law, motions presented in the National Assembly can be voted on 24 hours after their presentation to the Chamber, but only during the following two days.
PD vice spokesperson Cho Seung-rae explained to the agency this Thursday Yonhap that the intention is to vote on the motion around 7:00 p.m. local time on Saturday in order to allow parliamentarians from the ruling party, Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP), enough time to meditate. about the president’s actions.
The date for the parliamentary vote is known hours after the leader of the ruling formation, Han Dong-hoon, said that he will work for all PPP seats to vote against the dismissal of Yoon, who declared martial law based on that the opposition – which he accused of being “pro-North Korean” – was carrying out “anti-state acts” with its policies.
Since the opposition has a clear majority in the National Assembly (192 of the 300 available seats), only eight votes of the 108 PPP deputies would be necessary to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to remove Yoon, a scenario that many experts see plausible.
If the motion is approved with two-thirds or more of the votes in favor, Yoon would be disqualified and the head of State and Government would be assumed on an interim basis by the Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, pending the The Constitutional Court determines within a maximum period of 180 days whether or not the president violated the Magna Carta by declaring martial law.
For his part, PPP leader Han Dong-hoo wanted to clarify that the decision not to support Yoon’s dismissal is not intended to defend the “unconstitutional martial law” decree, an action that he already condemned early on Wednesday. , and has insisted that he wants the president to stop being a member of the conservative political party.
On the other hand, the PD announced that on the same Saturday it will also seek to vote again in Parliament on a bill that calls for a special investigation into the accusations of corruption and electoral interference against the first lady, Kim Keon-hee. The law, which has been approved three times in the chamber and vetoed three times by Yoon himself, also requires a two-thirds majority to avoid a presidential veto.
New Defense Minister in South Korea
On the other hand, the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has appointed the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung Hyuk, as the new Minister of Defense to replace Kim Yong Hyun, after he resigned after assuming responsibility for the controversial martial law. and has apologized for “the confusion and concern caused to the population in relation to martial law,” he says in his resignation letter.
Kim himself was the one who first suggested that the country’s president adopt this measure, which has turned against Yoon and has led the opposition to present a motion for his dismissal. “Today, the president accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun and sanctioned his dismissal,” announced the head of the presidential cabinet, Chung Jin Seok, at a press conference.
During his speech, Chung highlighted the new Defense Minister’s extensive career in the field of security and his “solid reputation within the Army” and assured that he is “a person of principles who fulfills his duties with dedication and abides by the rules”. “(Choi) has the confidence to speak directly with his superiors,” he added.
“Based on his extensive experience and high knowledge in the field of national defense, we consider him the appropriate person to carry out military tasks while maintaining a firm readiness posture based on the solid alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States,” has explained.
