Asia-Pacific Newsweek
December 4, 2024
Seoul – The main opposition Democratic Party said on Wednesday it would table an impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol at a plenary session scheduled for Thursday.
The announcement came just hours after the opposition hinted that President Yoon would be impeached soon after he agreed to parliament's request to lift martial law.
A group of more than 40 opposition lawmakers announced that Congress should impeach Yoon, calling him “the mastermind of treasonous acts of mismanagement of the country.”
Hwang Unha, floor representative of the Korea Reconstruction Party, said: “The president mobilized the military and committed an act that amounted to treason. Obviously, he cannot serve any longer. Therefore, we must urgently pass the impeachment motion.”
Huang urged all parties to file an impeachment motion on Wednesday. Such motions must be voted on within 24 to 72 hours of being proposed.
“The National Assembly should focus on approving the impeachment bill as soon as possible to immediately suspend the president,” he said.
Previously, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung criticized martial law as unconstitutional and illegal. He told reporters shortly after the National Assembly passed a resolution calling for the lifting of martial law, “President Yoon's decision to declare martial law is completely inconsistent with the substantive requirements stipulated in the Constitution and the martial law law.”
“President Yoon betrayed the people. His illegal martial law was declared invalid. From this moment on, Yoon Seok-yeol is no longer the president of the Republic of Korea.
