For the second time in a month, South Korea’s parliament has passed impeachment proceedings against a sitting president. 192 voted on Friday of the three hundred representatives for dismissing acting president (and prime minister) Han Duck-soo. The non-party politician took over that position for President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was voted out of office by a two-thirds majority less than two weeks ago.
Before the vote, it was unclear whether the removal of acting President Han would once again require a two-thirds majority – or whether a simple majority would suffice. Parliament Speaker Woo Won-shik provided clarity on Friday: the latter would be enough. That settled the matter, as the liberal opposition party, the Democratic Party, has an absolute majority of 170 seats in parliament. Members of the conservative PPP would also have been needed for a two-thirds majority. The entire party abstained from voting on Friday and later announced that it would challenge Han’s impeachment.
Constitutional Court
Now that the impeachment proceedings have the necessary support, the Constitutional Court must consider whether Han should actually be impeached. In the meantime, like Yoon, he has been suspended and his duties are taken over by the next in the political hierarchy. In this case, that is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Choi Sang-mok, who took up his new and therefore third position shortly after the vote.
Han has said he respects parliament’s decision and will await the ruling of the Constitutional Court. That’s a big difference in tone from Yoon, who vowed to “fight to the bitter end.” On Friday, the police raided Yoon’s home with the aim of securing camera images recorded there.
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The reason for sending Han out had precisely to do with the Constitutional Court. This should decide whether President Yoon should actually be impeached, due to the brief declaration of a military emergency earlier this month. The Constitutional Court has nine judges, but three positions are currently vacant. Parliament voted unanimously on Thursday for three new appointments, but they must still be formally approved by the president. Han Duck-soo said he did not want to do this as acting head of state, but called on the Democratic Party to reach a political agreement with Yoon’s conservative PPP.
New elections
That was a sore spot for the Democratic Party, which wants to speed up the final impeachment of Yoon so that new elections can be called. The liberals have a good chance of delivering the next president. The party announced a new impeachment procedure on Thursday. The Constitutional Court announced on Friday that it would issue a judgment on Yoon’s political fate as soon as possible. To ratify this, a majority of six judges is required – currently the full Court.
On the evening of December 3, President Yoon declared a military emergency because his functioning would be hampered by “pro-North Korean forces” in South Korean politics. Parliament ended the state of emergency after several hours and supported impeachment proceedings against Yoon. Several leaders from the South Korean armed forces and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun have been arrested for their role in declaring a state of emergency.