Tag: impeachment

Here is the latest update from the ongoing impeachment trial:

Impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told the Constitutional Court that Cabinet ministers were concerned about President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law bid and attempted to dissuade him before he announced it on Dec. 3. 

Han, who was impeached on Dec. 14 over his alleged role in Yoon’s botched martial law bid, made the remarks as he attended what is likely the last hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial Thursday.

“As I recall, all (Cabinet members) were concerned and tried to dissuade him,” Han said, referring to a hastily arranged meeting of some Cabinet ministers shortly before Yoon’s surprise imposition of martial law. 

When asked about former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s testimony that some members were in favor of Yoon’s plan, Han replied, “From what I recall, that was not the case at all.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The fact that there is a large pro-Yoon protest in Gwangju of all places has to be highly disturbing to the Korean left:

A longtime symbol of South Korea’s pro-democracy movement, Geumnam-ro Street in Gwangju became the staging ground for intensifying political divisions on Saturday, with protesters supporting and opposing President Yoon Suk Yeol gathering at the same time.

The two rallies, held separately along a 680-meter course from May 18 Democracy Square — commemorating the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising — to Geumnam-ro, saw the biggest crowd in Gwangju since Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, and, in particular, the largest anti-impeachment rally.

The conservative Christian organization Save Korea organized a rally opposing Yoon’s impeachment along Geumnam-ro, specifically on sections 3 and 4 of the road from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.

While this was happening, a rally in favor of impeaching Yoon was held on the other side of Geumnam-ro, led by the civic group Gwangju Emergency Action for Immediate Resignation of the Yoon Administration and Social Reform.

To maintain order and prevent physical clashes, police formed barriers between the opposing groups using riot buses.

Local media reported that the police unofficially put the number of people who participated in the anti-Yoon impeachment protest at 30,000, while 10,000 to 20,000 participated in the pro-Yoon impeachment protest.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the difference between Yoon getting impeached and possibly going to jail is two similar sounding Korean words:

A former military commander involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial law bid confirmed Thursday that the people Yoon ordered to be removed from the National Assembly were lawmakers, not agents, a claim that Yoon again rejected.

Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, the then chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, made the remark as a witness during the sixth formal hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court.

Yoon was also in attendance.

“I obviously thought and understood the part about dragging people out from inside as referring to lawmakers because there were no operation agents inside the main (parliamentary) building at the time,” Kwak said, referring to a phone call he received from Yoon on the night martial law was imposed on Dec. 3.

Kwak was confirming testimony he has previously given in parliament, as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has disputed the claim, saying Yoon had in fact ordered the removal of agents, not lawmakers.

In Korean, the words for agent and lawmaker are similar in pronunciation.

Yoon once again denied the claim — saying he has never used the term “agent” — and accused Kwak of plotting against him.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Yoon was trying to arrest members of the Korean parliament, it was the most incompetent coup attempt ever:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he ordered sending troops to offices of the National Election Commission (NEC) during his martial law declaration as he has suspected election fraud allegations.

Yoon made the admission while attending the fifth formal hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, where he again denied allegations that he ordered military commanders to drag lawmakers out of parliament in an attempt to prevent them from blocking the martial law imposition. (……)

Yoon is also alleged to have sent military troops to the National Assembly to keep lawmakers from voting down the martial law declaration and to have planned to arrest key political figures.

“Nothing actually happened (during martial law decree) … I feel like we are chasing the moon’s shadow on a lake,” Yoon said. “You would know the true nature of this case if you saw it based on common sense.”

Yoon claimed that dragging lawmakers from parliament could not have been possible as there are thousands of civilians in the National Assembly compound and troops were withdrawn after martial law was lifted.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what will happen if the legal system convicts Yoon of treason, but the Constitutional Court does not approve his impeachment?:

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun, legal representative for President Yoon Suk Yeol, speaks during a press conference held near Gangnam Station in Seoul on Saturday.

Attorney Yoon Gap-geun argued that the declaration of martial law by President Yoon could never constitute treason, stating, “Martial law is a constitutional authority granted to the president, and there has never been a case where the exercise of emergency powers by the president was punished as treason. This conclusion is supported by the majority of constitutional scholars.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

At least Yoon was allowed out of jail to finally attend the impeachment trial:

President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared for the first time at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, speaking of his long-held belief in “liberal democracy” and asking the bench to consider him favorably.

Yoon arrived at the court in a convoy escorted by the Presidential Security Service from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital, where he has been held in custody since last Wednesday.

At 2 p.m., he entered the courtroom, dressed in a suit and red tie, and sat waiting for the eight justices to arrive for the third hearing of the trial deliberating his impeachment over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.