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Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol

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Impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol
Woo Won-shik, the National Assembly Speaker signing the article of impeachment in front of the media after the successful second impeachment vote on 14 December 2024.
AccusedYoon Suk Yeol, 13th President of South Korea
Date14 December 2024
ChargesTreason[1]
Cause2024 South Korean martial law
First impeachment vote by the National Assembly (7 December 2024)
Not voting
105 / 300
ResultVotes not counted due to failure of an action to reach quorum amid PPP boycott; impeachment unsuccessful
Second impeachment vote by the National Assembly (14 December 2024)
Votes in favor
204 / 300
Votes against
85 / 300
ResultYoon impeached and suspended from the presidency for the duration of the impeachment trial; Han Duck-soo becomes acting president
Decision by Constitutional Court of Korea

On 14 December 2024, Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, was impeached by the National Assembly following the second impeachment motion against him. This action came in response to his declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024.

Incumbent prime minister Han Duck-soo assumed the role of acting president pending the Constitutional Court's confirmation of Yoon's permanent removal from office. An earlier impeachment motion was put to a parliamentary vote on 7 December 2024 but failed because the number of attending congresspeople did not meet the quorum required for its passage, as members of the ruling People Power Party boycotted the vote.

This marks the third impeachment of a South Korean president. Roh Moo-hyun (9th president) was impeached in 2004 but reinstated by the Constitutional Court, while Park Geun-hye (11th president) was impeached in 2017 and subsequently removed from office after the Constitutional Court's confirmation.

Background

[edit]
Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022

Only one president, Park Geun-hye, has been removed from office through impeachment, in 2017. Roh Moo-hyun was impeached in 2004 on accusations of illegal electioneering, incompetence, and economic mismanagement, but the Constitutional Court ruled cleared him of two infractions and deemed the remaining charge not serious enough to warrant removal, allowing him to remain in office.[2][3][4][5]

Impeachment procedure

[edit]

The procedure for impeachment is set out in the 10th Constitution of South Korea in 1987. Article 65, Clause 1, specifies that the National Assembly may impeach the president, prime minister, or other state officials if they violate the Constitution or other laws while performing official duties.[6][7]

For an impeachment motion against a sitting president to pass, a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly – 200 out of 300 members – must vote in favor.[8] Once passed, the individual is immediately suspended from their duties pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Korea. The scope of impeachment is limited to removal from public office, with no further penalties imposed through this process.[9]

By the Constitutional Court Act passed in 1988, the Constitutional Court must render a decision within 180 days after it receives any case for adjudication, including impeachment cases. If the respondent has already left office before the pronouncement of the decision, the case is dismissed.[9] Six of the nine justices must vote to remove the president; due to three vacancies, all six justices would have to vote to remove him, although it is unclear if the court would hear the case with vacancies.[8]

If the National Assembly impeaches the president, the president is immediately suspended from office, with the prime minister assuming the role of acting president. In the event of the president's resignation or removal by the Constitutional Court, an early presidential election is required to be held within 60 days. During this interim period, the prime minister continues to serve as acting president until the election of a new president.[8]

Previous calls to impeach Yoon

[edit]

In July 2024, an online petition started on the National Assembly's website calling for Yoon's impeachment gathered over a million signatures, with all petitions with over 50,000 signatures required under law to be reviewed by a parliamentary committee. The website crashed, with over 22,000 people concurrently waiting to access the website with an estimated wait time of 30 minutes.[10][11] In November 2024, over 3,000 professors and researchers at various universities signed a letter asking Yoon to resign.[12][13] One interviewer speculated that the letter had received the highest number of signatures from academics since protests during the Park Geun-hye administration.[12] On 28 November, 1,466 South Korean Catholic priests also called for Yoon to be impeached, issuing a statement titled How could a person be like this (어째서 사람이 이 모양인가), and claimed that he is a puppet and marionette of private interests who has no idea what he does or who he is and handed over the authority entrusted to him by the people to his wife.[14]

Martial law declaration

[edit]

On 3 December, Yoon declared martial law in South Korea, stating that martial law was necessary to defend South Korea from anti-state forces. Military and police forces attempted to prevent legislators from entering the National Assembly Proceeding Hall, causing clashes between the police and military, protesters, and legislative aides. All 190 legislators who were present in the chamber unanimously voted to demand the lifting of martial law, forcing Yoon to lift martial law around 04:00 KST on 4 December.[4]

Impeachment

[edit]

First impeachment motion

[edit]
First motion to impeach Yoon
Choice Votes
checkY Yes Not counted
☒N No
Abstentions
Invalid votes
Not voting
105 / 300
Impeachment unsuccessful

Following the martial law declaration, all six opposition parties – the DPK, Rebuilding Korea Party, New Reform Party, Progressive Party, Basic Income Party, and Social Democratic Party – submitted the motion to impeach Yoon during a plenary session of the National Assembly on 4 December. The vote was set for 7 December.[15]

Following an emergency meeting of the People Power Party (PPP), its leader, Han Dong-hoon, initially announced the party's unanimous opposition to the impeachment efforts.[16][17][18] However, on 6 December, Han revealed that the PPP had received evidence indicating that Yoon had ordered Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung to arrest key politicians, including Han himself,[19] on "anti-state charges" during martial law and detain them in Gwacheon, prompting Han to call on Yoon to "suspend his duties soon" and warning that citizens could be in "great danger" if Yoon remained in office.[20][21][22]

Assuming all opposition parties voted in favor of the motion, only eight more PPP members would have been required to reach the threshold needed to start a trial by the Constitutional Court, which is fewer than the number that had voted to lift the martial law declaration. Prior to the PPP's leadership publicly announcing its opposition to the continuation of Yoon presidency, all 18 representatives aligned with PPP that were able to attend the National Assembly session voted against Yoon's imposition of martial law.[23]

Hours before the National Assembly convened on 7 December, Yoon apologized for declaring martial law, describing it as "desperate decision made by me, the president, as the final authority responsible for state affairs" and promising there would not be a second declaration of martial law.[24] He also pledged to delegate his political functions to the PPP.[25] DPK leader Lee Jae-myung called the apology "disappointing" and insisted on Yoon's resignation or impeachment.[26] He also criticized Yoon's power-sharing arrangement with the PPP as "destroying the constitutional order",[27] while DPK Floor Leader Park Chan-dae called the arrangement a "second coup".[28] Prior to the impeachment vote, a motion was discussed on whether to launch a special counsel investigation on Yoon's wife Kim Keon-hee but ultimately failed due to opposition by the PPP.[29]

Ahn Cheol-soo (left) was the only PPP lawmaker to not leave the chamber before voting; Kim Ye-ji [ko] (right) was one of two who left but later returned.

Before voting began, all PPP lawmakers except one, Ahn Cheol-soo, left the voting chamber, meaning the bill would be unlikely to pass.[30] This came amid the possibility of PPP lawmakers deviating from the party's position through the secret balloting process.[31] Kim Ye-ji [ko] left but later returned;[32][33] Kim Sang-wook [ko] returned to vote but said he voted against impeachment.[34] Protesters attempted to block the exits of the National Assembly Proceeding Hall as PPP lawmakers left, calling the leaving lawmakers "cowards" and encouraging them to vote.[35] Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Kim Joon-hyung said that he expected voting to go on until 00:00 KST on 8 December at the latest;[36] the deadline to vote is 00:48 KST, three days after the motion was introduced.[37]

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik closed voting early at 21:20 KST and initially announced the start of counting shortly after, but then announced that votes would not be counted due to failing to reach the quorum, with only 195 members present of the 200 needed.[38][39]

While the session was underway, the crowd outside the National Assembly demanding Yoon's removal and insisting that PPP lawmakers participate in the impeachment vote was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands,[40] with some attempting to scale the walls and police barricades.[41] On 5 December, phone numbers of PPP lawmakers were released online, leading to a wave of text messages from the public urging them to support Yoon's impeachment, which continued after the impeachment motion failed. One MP, Shin Sung-bum, said that he had received 10,501 messages by 9 December.[42]

Second impeachment motion

[edit]
Second motion to impeach Yoon
Two-thirds majority (200/300) required
Choice Votes
checkY Yes
204 / 300
☒N No
85 / 300
Abstentions
3 / 300
Invalid votes
8 / 300
Not voting
0 / 300
Impeachment successful

On 12 December, Yoon issued a statement vowing to "fight to the end", resisting the push for his resignation.[43] Following Yoon's statement, Han Dong-hoon called for Yoon's impeachment and convened an ethics committee to discuss Yoon's expulsion from the PPP.[44] Later that day, the DPK filed its second motion to impeach Yoon, with the vote scheduled for 14 December 2024.[45]

Prior to the vote, seven PPP lawmakers expressed their intention to participate,[46] including Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Ye-ji and Kim Sang-wook, who participated in the previous voting, as well as Bae Hyun-jin, who has not expressed her intentions in the next vote. On 10 December, Kim Sang-wook, who voted against the impeachment motion, announced that he would support impeachment and apologized for his previous decision.[47][48]

Before the vote began on 14 December, Han Dong-hoon announced that while his party opposed impeachment, it would engage in the vote, encouraging lawmakers to vote "according to their conscience and beliefs rather than following partisan interests".[49] Shortly after 16:00 KST, with six PPP members present, speaker Woo Won-shik announced the beginning of the vote, saying "I hope every one of you will participate in the vote".[50][51] BBC News described the second vote as "a stark contrast from last weekend", citing the lack of a PPP boycott.[52] Local media outlets said that the results would be likely counted by 17:30 KST.[53]

Around 16:50 KST on 14 December, Woo announced that all 300 members had voted and vote counting had begun.[54] As votes were counted, protesters sang "March for the Beloved", an anthem commemorating those killed during the Gwangju Uprising, and "Into the New World" by Girls' Generation, which was also used during the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.[55] The National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, with 204 of 300 lawmakers supporting impeachment.[56]

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun (left) and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min (right)
[edit]

Aside from Yoon, several officials were subjected to proposals and motions for impeachment over their involvement in the declaration of martial law. These include Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun,[57] who resigned on 5 December,[58] and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, whose impeachment motion was filed by the DPK on 7 December.[59] Lee resigned the next day on 8 December.[60][61] On 12 December, the National Assembly passed impeachment motions against Justice Minister Park Sung-jae and KNP Commissioner Cho Ji-ho.[62]

Aftermath

[edit]

First impeachment motion aftermath

[edit]

Following the vote, PPP Leader Han Dong-hoon said that the PPP would continue to "push for the president's orderly retreat to minimize chaos",[63] while PPP Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho resigned, saying that he would take responsibility for "the third presidential impeachment vote in [South Korea's] constitutional history".[64] Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (PPP) said that he would "make all-out efforts to promptly stabilize the current situation".[65] The DPK said that it would continue to file impeachment motions against Yoon on a weekly basis.[66]

On 8 December, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was arrested by prosecutors on suspicion of committing insurrection by advising President Yoon to declare martial law and sending troops into the National Assembly to seize the legislature.[67][68] That same day, Han Dong-hoon said that the PPP had "effectively obtained (Yoon's) promise to step down" in exchange for the party blocking his impeachment.[69] A PPP special task force proposed that Yoon leave office in February or March 2025 and called for a snap presidential election to be held in April or May.[70]

On 10 December, the National Assembly passed a bill creating a permanent special counsel to investigate Yoon on charges of treason relating to his martial law declaration. The motion passed with 210 MPs, including 23 PPP members, in favor after the party allowed its members to vote according to their individual decision.[71]

After the first impeachment motion failed, several PPP lawmakers' offices were vandalized, while others received funeral wreathes with messages such as "insurrection accomplices" written.[72] A box cutter was also found at the residence of MP Kim Jae-sub. A petition filed at the National Assembly website calling for the PPP's dissolution garnered more than 171,000 signatures,[73] exceeding the 50,000 needed to have the proposal submitted to the relevant standing committee.[74]

Analysis

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The Korea Times drew comparisons between Yoon's impeachment and that of President Park Geun-hye in 2017, attributing Yoon's survival of the first impeachment attempt to the PPP's fear that it would suffer a crushing defeat in the snap presidential election, similar to what happened to the Saenuri Party after Park was removed from the presidency.[75]

Opinion polling

[edit]
Support for Yoon's impeachment or resignation by political ideology as of 12 December 2024[76]
Ideology Impeachment
/immediate
resignation
Orderly
resignation
Total
Progressive 92% 6.9% 98.9%
"Moderate" 83% 11.6% 94.6%
Conservative 43% 33.3% 76.3%
Total 74.8% 16.2% 91%

Opinion polling carried out by Realmeter on 4 December 2024 found that 73.6% of respondents supported Yoon's impeachment while 24% opposed it. It also found that 70% believed that Yoon's actions constituted treason while 25% believed otherwise.[77] Another Realmeter poll released on 12 December found 74.8% of respondents supported either Yoon's immediate resignation or impeachment, while 16.2% supported the PPP's proposal of Yoon's orderly resignation.[76]

A Gallup poll released on 13 December found that Yoon's impeachment was supported by 75% of respondents and opposed by 21%. It also found that 27% of PPP supporters favored impeachment, compared to 66% opposed. Among DPK supporters, 97% supported impeachment, while 3% opposed.[78]

References

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  6. ^ Article 65, Clause 1 of the Constitution of South Korea (1987)
  7. ^ Mosler, Hannes B. (2017). "The Institution of Presidential Impeachment in South Korea, 1992–2017". Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 50 (2): 119–120. doi:10.5771/0506-7286-2017-2-111. ISSN 0506-7286. JSTOR 26429313.
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  64. ^ "PPP floor leader resigns amid impeachment vote fallout". The Chosun Daily. 7 December 2024.
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  67. ^ "Prosecution arrests ex-defense minister over treason charges". The Korea Times. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
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  70. ^ "South Korean police blocked from raid on president's office". France 24. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
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  76. ^ a b "[리얼미터] 尹 대통령 '비상계엄' 선포 사태 ① '즉시 탄핵' 74.8%, ② 계엄 트라우마 '경험 있다' 66.2%" [[Realmeter] President Yoon's declaration of 'martial law' ① 'Immediate impeachment' 74.8%, ② 'Experienced' martial law trauma 66.2%]. Realmeter (in Korean). 12 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  77. ^ Kim, Eun-jung (5 December 2024). "Seven out of 10 support Yoon's impeachment over martial law declaration: poll". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  78. ^ "Yoon's approval rating sinks to all-time low of 11%: poll". The Korea Times. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.