South Korea’s leadership crisis explained
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The fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol rests in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to reinstate or formally remove him.
PHOTO: AFP
Choe Sang-Hun
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SEOUL – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law has created the country’s biggest constitutional crisis since it democratised in the late 1980s.
On Dec 14, Mr Yoon, a deeply unpopular leader, was impeached by the National Assembly,
In addition to his impeachment, Mr Yoon faces a criminal inquiry, the first to target a sitting South Korean president.
Here is how the crisis has unfolded.
Why was Yoon impeached?
Mr Yoon’s martial law decree on Dec 3, 2024
In the impeachment Bill, opposition lawmakers argued that Mr Yoon had perpetrated an insurrection when he made the martial law declaration and sent troops into the National Assembly. They said that was an attempt to stop lawmakers from voting down the decree, as was their right under the Constitution.
An initial impeachment vote on Dec 7 failed, after lawmakers from Mr Yoon’s People Power Party boycotted it, saying he should be given a chance to resign.
A week later, 12 lawmakers from Mr Yoon’s party joined the opposition to impeach him, sealing his fate.
The fate of Mr Yoon rests in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which will decide within the next six months whether to reinstate or formally remove him.
Who is in charge now?
The country’s opposition parties, which dominate the National Assembly, impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo
The parliamentary vote on Dec 27 over Mr Han was the first time in South Korean history that an acting president had been impeached.
Like Mr Han, Mr Choi is not an elected official. He is leading South Korea with no real political heft as the country faces challenges such as North Korea’s growing nuclear threat and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Mr Yoon has vowed to fight in court to regain his power.
In a recorded speech released shortly after his impeachment, Mr Yoon listed what he considered his accomplishments as president, including his efforts to strengthen military ties with the US and Japan. Now, his efforts have been paused, he said.
“But I will never give up,” he said.
The court will decide within 180 days whether Mr Yoon is guilty of the crimes the National Assembly accused him of and, if so, whether they are serious enough to merit his removal. If the court does formally remove him, South Korea is then supposed to elect a new leader within two months.
Why did Yoon do it?
Mr Yoon has said that he declared martial law out of “desperation” in the face of an opposition that used its parliamentary majority to “paralyse” his government. He criticised the opposition for slashing some of his government budgets planned for 2025, as well as its frequent attempts to impeach his political appointees.
But such complaints cannot be grounds for declaring martial law, Mr Kim Young-hoon, head of the Korean Bar Association, told The New York Times. Mr Yoon also did not immediately notify the National Assembly of his declaration of martial law, as required by law, according to the assembly.
“It’s clear that President Yoon’s declaration of martial law failed to meet the requirements set by the Constitution,” Mr Kim said.
Mr Cho Ji-ho, head of the National Police Agency, told the assembly on Dec 9 that when martial law was briefly in place, the military asked police to help it locate and detain 15 people, including the leaders of the biggest political parties.
Even during martial law, however, the president has no right to detain lawmakers unless they are caught committing a crime.
What are the criminal accusations against the President?
Mr Yoon has been banned from leaving the country as police and prosecutors investigate whether he and his supporters in the government and military committed insurrection when they sent armed troops into the National Assembly.
Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, who led a special forces unit that was sent into the assembly, said he received orders to forcibly remove lawmakers to prevent 150 of them – the number required to repeal martial law – from gathering.
South Korea’s criminal law defines insurrection as any attempt to “overthrow government organs established by the Constitution or to render the exercise of their functions impossible by force”.
If Mr Yoon is convicted of insurrection and the court rules that he was its ringleader, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Prosecutors have arrested his former defence minister and two former police chiefs on charges of helping to carry out insurrection. NYTIMES
Jin Yu Young and Victoria Kim contributed reporting.
