South Korean President’s impeachment fate could rest heavily on former ally
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People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon (left) was once South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s staunchest ally before their relationship soured over the first lady's Dior handbag scandal.
PHOTOS: AFP
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SEOUL – As South Korea’s lawmakers prepare to vote on an impeachment motion Han Dong-hoon
The man who used to be Mr Yoon’s junior when they worked together as prosecutors was also the President’s staunchest ally before their relationship soured after they clashed over First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s handbag scandal
Mr Han, who had vowed on Dec 5 that the PPP would use all means to block the impeachment of Mr Yoon for attempting to impose martial law
On the morning of Dec 6, Mr Han took his own party by surprise when he declared to reporters
This is an indication that he now supports the impeachment vote, as impeachment is the only way for the President to be suspended from duties.
Some members of the PPP oppose the impeachment move because it is damaging to the party.
The party chief’s abrupt U-turn was triggered by the shocking revelation by a National Intelligence Service (NIS) deputy director that Mr Yoon had personally instructed him to arrest and detain several key politicians on the grounds that they were “anti-state forces” after martial law was effected at 11pm on Dec 3. It was repealed at 4.30am on Dec 4.
On Mr Yoon’s hit list was Mr Han, as were the President’s political foes, such as opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and Reform Party’s Cho Kuk
NIS director Cho Tae-yong has refuted the allegations
Mr Han’s shift in stance may be the much-needed pivot for the opposition bloc to reach a two-thirds majority of the 300-seat Parliament
The opposition bloc has 192 members, and would require at least eight lawmakers from the ruling party to join it.
Mr Han is said to have 18 PPP lawmakers loyal to him, the same group that had rushed to the National Assembly on the night of Dec 3 to join the opposition bloc in voting for a repeal of martial law.
The Democratic Party’s Mr Lee welcomed Mr Han’s about-turn, describing it as “a bit late, but fortunate”.
His party, which has the largest number of seats in Parliament at 170, had reached out to Mr Han for a meeting on the impeachment vote but did not receive any reply.
PPP’s senior leaders strongly opposed Mr Han’s change in stance, slamming him for the “reckless” comments that they said were not representative of the party’s stance.
A PPP lawmaker told reporters: “We cannot impeach the President right now and hand over power to Mr Lee Jae-myung and the opposition Democratic Party.”
The President himself is said to be worried as well, inviting Mr Han to an urgent private meeting in the afternoon after the latter’s remarks.
During the meeting, Mr Yoon denied ordering the arrests, said Mr Han, in a debrief to PPP lawmakers after the meeting.
Mr Han said he had asked that Mr Yoon address the nation soon to explain the debacle but that the President had rejected the idea, saying that the timing was not yet right.
The meeting also failed to resolve differences between the two, with Mr Han telling party members that the meeting gave him no reason to change his stance on suspending Mr Yoon from his duties.
Mr Han then cryptically told party members to “make the responsible decision” on Dec 7 when the motion is put to the vote.
Given the developments, Kyung Hee University’s political scientist Ahn Byong-jin told The Straits Times that it is now highly likely that Mr Yoon would be impeached.
But he gave the caveat that anything could still happen as there were still many hours to go before the voting at 7pm on Dec 7.
“As you can tell from what happened between yesterday and today, Korean politics is unpredictable,” Professor Ahn said, adding that there is still the possibility of Mr Yoon changing his mind about a public address before the voting takes place.
Prof Ahn said: “It is hard to try and understand Mr Yoon’s thinking because he thinks very differently from most people. He might even relish having the motion pass and having his time at the Constitutional Court. He likes to take risks that way.”
If the impeachment motion is passed, the case will be referred to Korea’s Constitutional Court, where its nine-member council will decide whether to uphold or reject the impeachment.
Lawyer Choi Ji-yeon, a PPP supporter who had helped Mr Yoon’s election campaign in 2021, told ST that supporters are now resigning themselves to the fact that Mr Yoon will be impeached, after Mr Han’s comments in the morning.
Ms Choi, 38, said: “On a personal level, I can understand how furious Mr Han must be to be on the list of arrestees. But a lot of us PPP supporters are wondering whether he is really looking after the interests of our party? Has he forgotten (then President) Park Geun-hye’s impeachment seven years ago?”
After Ms Park’s impeachment in 2017, the conservatives lost power to the Democratic Party in the presidential election that year.
On Mr Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law, Ms Choi thinks he likely snapped because he had been “hemmed in from every direction for so long” and that the opposition kept threatening to prosecute his wife on alleged stock manipulation charges.
Ever since his party lost by a landslide at the general election in April, Mr Yoon’s administration has been rendered effectively a lame duck, unable to push through many of his policies with the dominant opposition.
Even though she is not optimistic that a public address would change Mr Yoon’s fate, Ms Choi is still hoping he would make one before the impeachment vote.
“It’s not that I’m defending his martial law declaration. But I think it is fair to hear his side of the story, on what was actually going through his mind that night.”
