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Constitutional Court Dismisses Impeachment Against Prime Minister Han; Will Yoon’s Charges Be Dismissed Next?

The impeachment charges against Han have been dropped which has caused him to be reinstated as the interim President:

The Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday, reinstating him as acting president in the ongoing turmoil over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law.

Han’s impeachment was dismissed in a 5-1 vote by the court’s eight justices. Two justices voted to reject the impeachment motion entirely.

The ruling came three months after the National Assembly impeached the prime minister and then acting president over his alleged role in Yoon’s Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, among other reasons.

Four of the five justices who voted to dismiss Han’s impeachment acknowledged there were violations of the Constitution and the law in his decision to defer the appointment of additional justices to the court, but noted it did not justify his removal from office.

As the only justice to uphold the impeachment, however, Justice Chung Kye-sun said the violations were “serious” enough to warrant his dismissal.

You can read more at the link, but I think people should not read too much into this dismissal as it relates to impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. None of the justices believed that Han had anything to do with the martial law declaration:

The six justices who voted to either dismiss or uphold the impeachment said there was no evidence to back the National Assembly’s accusations that Han took proactive action to give legitimacy to Yoon’s martial law bid, such as by convening a Cabinet meeting ahead of its declaration.

For Yoon to get his charges dismissed he needed to convince the judges that his martial law declaration did not violate the ROK constitution and laws which is very different charges than what Han was facing. With Han impeachment decision now completed it will be interesting to see if the Constitutional Court releases their decision on Yoon at the end of the week.

North Korea Upset Japan Installing Type-12 Missiles in Kyushu

Let me get this right, North Korea can regularly fire missiles near and over Japan, but Japan when Japan install missiles on its own territory in response North Korea is now upset?:

North Korea warned Japan against stationing long-range missiles on Kyushu, accusing the country of furthering a “history of aggression,” according to a report Thursday from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Japan is considering deploying an upgraded version of its Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles there at the end of the next fiscal year, Kyodo News reported Sunday, citing unnamed government sources. Japan’s fiscal year runs April 1 to March 31. The deployment to Japan’s southernmost main island would put the missiles — expected to have a range of about 620 miles, according to Kyodo — within reach of North Korea and China’s coast.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Tweet of the Day: Chinese Coast Guard Harasses Filipino Boat

Deadly Wildfires Burn in the Southeastern Portion of South Korea

It is not often South Korea is hit with deadly wildfires like they are currently experiencing:

At least four people were killed, six people were injured and some 1,500 people were evacuated as wildfires fueled by strong winds have scorched areas of the nation’s southeastern region, disaster authorities said Sunday.

The fire began in Sancheong County, about 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and spread to other parts. 

Of the six people who were injured, five were seriously harmed. All victims were found in Sancheong, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.