By Hyung-Jin Kim, SEOUL, South
Korea
South Korea’s main opposition
party on Wednesday urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to resign immediately or face
impeachment, hours after Yoon ended a short-lived martial
law that prompted troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers voted
to lift it.
Yoon’s senior advisers and
secretaries offered to resign collectively and his Cabinet members, including
Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, were also facing calls to step down, as the
nation struggled to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly-thought-out
stunt.
In the capital, tourists and
residents walked around, traffic and construction were heard, and other than
crowds of police holding shields, it seemed like a normal sunny, cold December
morning.
On Tuesday night, Yoon
abruptly imposed the emergency martial law, vowing to eliminate “anti-state”
forces after he struggled to push forward his agenda in the
opposition-dominated parliament. But his martial law was effective for only
about six hours, as the National Assembly voted to overrule the president. The
declaration was formally lifted around 4:30 a.m. during a Cabinet meeting.
The liberal opposition
Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the 300-seat parliament, said
Wednesday that its lawmakers decided to call on Yoon to quit immediately or
they would take steps to impeach him.
ALSO READ: South Korean parliament votes to defy president by lifting his declaration of martial law
“President Yoon Suk Yeol’s
martial law declaration was a clear violation of the constitution. It didn’t
abide by any requirements to declare it,” the Democratic Party said in a
statement. “His martial law declaration was originally invalid and a grave violation
of the constitution. It was a grave act of rebellion and provides perfect
grounds for his impeachment.”
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| A National Assembly staff sprays fire extinguishers to block soldiers entering the main hall of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. |
Impeaching him would require
support from two-thirds of the parliament, or 200 of its 300 members. The
Democratic Party and other small opposition parties together have 192 seats.
But when the parliament rejected Yoon’s martial law declaration in a 190-0
vote, 18 lawmakers from Yoon’s ruling People Power Party cast ballots
supporting the rejection, according to National Assembly officials.
The leader
of the People Power Party, Han Dong-hun, who has long ties with Yoon dating to
their days as prosecutors, criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration as
“unconstitutional.” If Yoon is impeached, he’ll be stripped of his
constitutional powers until the Constitutional Court can rule on his fate.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the No. 2 position in the South Korean government,
would take over his presidential responsibilities. As calls mounted for Yoon’s
Cabinet to resign, Han issued a public message pleading for patience and
calling for Cabinet members to “fulfill your duties even after this moment.”
Yoon’s martial law
declaration, the first of its kind in more than 40 years, harkened to South
Korea’s past
military-backed governments when authorities occasionally proclaimed
martial law and other decrees that allowed them to station combat soldiers,
tanks and armored vehicles on streets or at public places like schools to
prevent anti-government demonstrations.
Such scenes of military intervention
had not been seen since South Korea achieved a genuine democracy in the late
1980s until Tuesday night.
After Yoon’s declaration,
troops carrying full battle gear, including assault rifles, tried to keep
protesters away from the National Assembly as military helicopters flew
overhead and landed nearby. One soldier pointed his assault rifle at a woman
who was among protesters outside the building demanding that the martial law be
lifted.
It wasn’t clear how the 190
lawmakers were able to enter a parliamentary hall to vote down Yoon’s martial
law decree. Opposition leader Lee
Jae-myung livestreamed himself climbing over the wall, and while
troops and police officers blocked some from entering they didn’t aggressively
restrain or use force against others.
No major violence has been
reported. The troops and police personnel were later seen leaving the grounds
of the National Assembly after the parliamentary vote to lift the martial law.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik said: “Even with our unfortunate
memories of military coups, our citizens have surely observed the events of
today and saw the maturity of our military.”
Han, the People Power Party
leader, demanded that Yoon explain his decision and fire Defense Minister Kim
Yong Hyun, who he said recommended the martial law decree to Yoon. The Defense
Ministry has not commented.
Under South Korea’s
constitution, the president can declare martial law during “wartime, war-like
situations or other comparable national emergency states” that require the use
of military force to restrict the freedom of press, assembly and other rights
to maintain order. Many observers question whether South Korea is currently in
such a state.
The constitution also states
that the president must oblige when the National Assembly demands the lifting
of martial law with a majority vote.
Some experts say Yoon clearly
violated the constitution in how he imposed martial law. While martial law
allows “special measures” to restrict individual freedoms and the authority of
agencies and courts, the constitution does not permit the functions of
parliament to be restricted.
But in following Yoon’s declaration on Tuesday,
South Korea’s military proclaimed parliamentary activities were suspended and
deployed troops to try to block lawmakers from entering the National Assembly.
Park Chan-dae, the Democratic
Party’s floor leader, called for Yoon to be immediately investigated on charges
of rebellion over the way he deployed troops to the parliament. While the
president mostly enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office, the
protection does not extend to alleged rebellion or treason.
In Washington, the White House
said the U.S. was “seriously concerned” by the events in Seoul. A spokesperson
for the National Security Council said President Joe Biden’s administration was
not notified in advance of the martial law announcement and was in contact with
the South Korean government.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen.
Pat Ryder said there was no effect on the more than 27,000 U.S. service members
based in South Korea.
In Seoul, the streets seemed
busy like a normal day Wednesday.
Tourist Stephen Rowan, from
Brisbane, Australia, who was touring Gyeongbokgung Palace, said he was not
concerned at all.
“But then again, I don’t
understand too much about the political status in Korea,” he said. “But I hear
they are now calling for the current president’s resignation, so ... apparently
there’s going to be a lot of demonstrations. ... I would have been concerned if
martial law had stayed enforced.”
Yoon’s
government and ruling party have been embroiled in an impasse with the
Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill and a Democratic Party-led
attempt to to impeach three top prosecutors.
During his televised
announcement, Yoon also described the opposition as “shameless pro-North Korean
anti-state forces who are plundering the freedom and happiness of our
citizens.” He did not elaborate. North Korea had no immediate comments.
Natalia Slavney, research
analyst at the Stimson Center’s 38 North website that focuses on Korean
affairs, said Yoon’s imposition of martial law was “a serious backslide of
democracy” that followed a “worrying trend of abuse” since he took office in
2022.
South Korea “has a robust
history of political pluralism and is no stranger to mass protests and swift
impeachments,” Slavney said, citing the example of former President Park
Geun-hye, who was ousted from office and imprisoned for bribery and
other crimes in 2017. She was later pardoned.
