The South Korean parliament voted on Saturday impeachment motion (constitutional indictment) of President Jun Sok-yol for his failed attempt to declare martial law last week. TASR reports according to the agencies AFP and Jonhap.
The opposition has 192 votes in the 300-member parliament it needed a two-thirds majority to begin the process of removing the president from office. 204 deputies voted for 85 were against, three abstained and eight votes were invalid.
The South Korean parliament began debating the impeachment process after 4:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. CET). Seven deputies from Jun’s conservative People’s Party (PPP) already confirmed before the vote that they would support the recall process. The first attempt to approve the recall failed last Saturday after almost all PPP MPs boycotted the vote.
The second proposal for the constitutional impeachment of the president was presented on Thursday by the main opposition Democratic Party and five other smaller parties. They accused the president of violating the constitution and other laws by declaring martial law on December 3. The presidential decree was canceled six hours later by the parliament with a majority of 190 votes.
The Constitutional Court currently has only six judges, so their decision on a constitutional indictment must be unanimous. If he confirms the opposition’s arguments, Jun will be the second South Korean president to be dismissed. President Park Geun-hye lost her position in 2017 due to corruption, abuse of power and violation of the election law. In 2004, President Roh Mu-hyun’s impeachment attempt stopped and the Constitutional Court reinstated him.
If parliament did not approve the constitutional impeachment process, Jun could still face “legal liability” under the Criminal Code for the declaration of martial law, Kim Hyun-jung from the Institute of Law of Korea University told AFP.
Jun will be relieved of his presidential duties as soon as the impeachment resolution is delivered to his office. Prime Minister Han Tok-su will temporarily take over the presidential powers. Jun Sok-yol promised supporters that he would fight to stay in office and repeated his still unsubstantiated claims, that the opposition is in league with communist enemies from North Korea.
The main opposition Democratic Party on Saturday called the impeachment vote “the only way” to “save the constitution, the rule of law, democracy and the future of South Korea.” “We can’t take Jun’s madness anymore,” said one of the MPs.
A police official in Seoul estimated that there are at least 200,000 demonstrators in front of the parliament in support of the impeachment of the president. “If Jun is not indicted today, I will come back next week,” one protester said shortly before the landmark vote. “I’ll go every week until that happens,” he added.
Elsewhere in Seoul, thousands of other people gathered in support of Jun, singing patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags. “Jun had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of every decision he made as president,” his supporter told AFP.
Since Tuesday, December 3, South Korea has been mired in its worst domestic political crisis in several years. According to a poll by the Gallup Korea Institute, the results of which were published on Friday, only 11 percent of respondents support the president, while 75 percent are in favor of his impeachment.
