This Saturday, the South Korean Parliament decided to dismiss President Yoon Suk Yeol, with 204 votes in favor and 85 against; impeachment took place two weeks after the self-coup decree that aimed to restrict civil rights
The Parliament of this Saturday (14) removed Yoon Suk Yeol from the position of president of the country. The reason was the attempt to establish martial law on December 3rd – Congress overturned martial law just hours after it was instituted. Last Thursday (11) then-president Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied accusations of rebellion.
The televised statement came hours before the main liberal opposition party, the Democratic Party, presented a new impeachment motion against Yoon – which would be approved this Saturday (14). A previous attempt to impeach Yoon failed last Saturday, with ruling party lawmakers boycotting a vote in the National Assembly.
Yoon’s martial law decree on December 3 sparked political chaos and protests calling for his ouster. The South Korean president said the introduction of martial law was aimed at defending the country’s liberal democracy and constitutional order in the face of the liberal opposition party, which he said had paralyzed state affairs and threatened the constitution. “I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups responsible for paralyzing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.
Yoo said his martial law decree was an act of governance that cannot be subject to investigation and does not amount to rebellion. “The opposition is now engaging in a knife dance of chaos, claiming that the declaration of martial law constitutes an act of rebellion. But was it really?” Yoon said. The main focus of the investigation is to find out whether Yoon and other senior military and government officials involved in imposing martial law committed rebellion. A conviction for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death.
What is martial law?
The South Korean constitution allows the president to use the armed forces to maintain order in situations of war or comparable national emergencies. These include the suspension of civil rights such as freedom of the press and assembly, and temporary limitations on the powers of courts and government agencies.
However, parliament has the power to annul the declaration with a majority vote – which it did. Experts say Yoon exceeded the limits of his legitimate duties, as the constitution does not allow the president to use the army to suspend parliament. Furthermore, they questioned whether the country’s situation really is comparable to a war. On Wednesday, Yoon’s office resisted a police attempt to search the complex.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Posted by Victor Oliveira
