South Korea’s ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) is in favor of suspending President Jun Sok-yol’s constitutional powers over his decision to declare martial law. This was announced by PPP Chairman Han Tong-hun on Friday.
According to the AP agency, quoted by TASR, Han’s statement indicates that the PPP has changed its previous opposition to the constitutional impeachment of the president, increasing the likelihood of Jun’s impeachment.
Han clarified on Friday that he had received information that Jun had ordered a military counterintelligence chief to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians. This should have happened on the basis of accusations of “anti-state activity” during martial law.
Even on Thursday, Han declared that he would try to thwart the motion to impeach the president, although he criticized the declaration of martial law as unconstitutional.
It represents a significant risk
But already on Friday, Han said that Jun poses “a significant risk because he could again resort to extreme measures, such as a renewed attempt to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
The proposal to recall the president would have to receive the support of two-thirds of the deputies in the parliament – that is, 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties, which jointly filed a motion for impeachment, have a total of 192 deputies.
Han leads a faction against Jun within the PPP. Its 18 members have already voted with opposition lawmakers to repeal June’s martial law decree.
Suspended function performance
President Jun unexpectedly announced the declaration of martial law in an unannounced speech on Tuesday. In it, he accused the opposition of anti-state activities and sympathies towards North Korea. This happened at a time when his party and the opposition cannot agree on next year’s budget.
Less than three hours after the declaration of martial law, the parliament approved the proposal to abolish it by a majority of votes. According to the South Korean constitution, the president must dismiss him in such a case.
If Jun were to be impeached by parliament now, he would be suspended from office until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office or return him to the presidency. In this case, Prime Minister Han Duk-so would take over the presidential powers.
