SEOUL, Dec 5 — South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday proposed impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol for his sudden decision to declare martial law, which he rescinded after a chaotic standoff between parliament and the army that damaged the country’s standing.
Yoon‘s declaration of martial law late on Tuesday attempted to ban political activity and censor the media in South Korea, which has Asia’s fourth largest economy and is a key US ally.
Washington had no advance notice of the decision, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters, adding that he expected to speak with his South Korean counterpart in the coming days.
Armed troops had forced their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul but stood back when parliamentary aides sprayed them with fire extinguishers. Lawmakers rejected the martial law decision while protesters scuffled with police outside.
On Wednesday evening, civic and labour groups held a candlelight vigil in downtown Seoul calling for Yoon‘s resignation — a reminder of the massive candlelight protests that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2017. They then marched to the presidential office.
Six South Korean opposition parties submitted a bill in parliament to impeach Yoon, who had already faced accusations of heavy-handed leadership from his opponents and from within his own party, with voting set for Friday or Saturday.
A plenary session to formally introduce the bill was scheduled to begin shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
“We couldn’t ignore the illegal martial law,” DP lawmaker Kim Yong-min told reporters. “We can no longer let democracy collapse”.
The leader of Yoon‘s ruling People Power Party called for Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun to be fired and the entire cabinet to resign. This morning, Yoon accepted the resignatiU.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “badly misjudged” his decision to declare martial law this week, and it had been seen as “deeply problematic” and “illegitimate.”
on of Kim and nominated his ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung-hyuk, as new defence minister, Yonhap news reported.
The crisis rattled global financial markets and left South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index KS11 down 1.4 per cent, taking its year-to-date losses to over 7 per cent and making it the worst performing major stock market in Asia this year.
The won was stable but close to a two-year low, with dealers reporting suspected intervention by South Korean authorities after overnight talks between Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong.
Choi sent an emergency note to global financial chiefs and credit rating agencies late on Wednesday which said the market was functioning as usual, and that the finance ministry was working to alleviate any adverse impact from political turmoil, the ministry said in a statement.
Yoon was embraced by leaders in the West as a partner in the US-led effort to unify democracies against growing authoritarianism in China, Russia and elsewhere.
But he caused unease among South Koreans by branding his critics as “communist totalitarian and anti-state forces” as his approval ratings slipped. In November, he denied wrongdoing in response to influence-peddling allegations against him and his wife and he has taken a hard line against labour unions.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “badly misjudged” his decision to declare martial law this week, and it had been seen as “deeply problematic” and “illegitimate”.
Blinken said he welcomed Yoon‘s decision to rescind the martial law declaration.
South Korea hosts about 28,500 American troops as a legacy of the 1950–1953 Korean War.
— Reuters
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