Tag: impeachment

This is not much of a hunger strike considering the impeachment ruling from the Constitutional Court is imminent any day now:

Some lawmakers of opposition parties on Tuesday launched a hunger strike calling for a verdict by the Constitutional Court to officially remove impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his failed bid to impose martial law. 

A group of opposition lawmakers, including from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Progressive Party, went on the hunger strike urging the court swiftly dismiss Yoon, who was released from detention last Saturday.

Yoon’s release came as another court allowed him to stand trial without physical detention, citing some questions about the legality of investigations over his charges.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think Yoon’s release is really going to impact the upcoming impeachment decision from the Constitutional Court. I think what will influence their decisionmaking is public sentiment. If public sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of President Yoon I think it will be less likely he is convicted for impeachment:

As President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from detention on Saturday following a court decision, all attention is now channeled into how the release will affect the impeachment trial on his Dec. 3 martial law declaration, as any influence could add further complications.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) and Yoon’s legal defense team hailed the decision as “confirmation” that there were serious violations of procedural rules throughout the investigation process, with some calling on the Constitutional Court to “correct” its own such violations before issuing a verdict on whether to formally oust the president from office.

On the other hand, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) played down its significance, claiming that the ruling will have “no impact” on the impeachment trial and that any procedural flaws will not reverse the fact that his martial law imposition was unconstitutional.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court said it approved Yoon’s request for release after determining that the prosecution’s Jan. 26 indictment of him on insurrection charges, which allowed his arrest to be extended, had come hours after the 10-day initial detention period had already expired. It did not accept the prosecution’s usual way of calculating the duration of detention.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here was a Sunday surprise for impeached President Yoon:

Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from jail Saturday, a day after a court’s ruling that allowed him to stand trial without physical detention over his failed bid to impose martial law in December.

Waving to his supporters, Yoon walked out of the Seoul Detention Center, 52 days after he was detained on charges of inciting an insurrection. However, impeachment and criminal trials against Yoon will continue. 

Yoon’s release came shortly after Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung decided not to appeal the court’s ruling to release the suspended president. 

Bowing deeply to his supporters, Yoon arrived at his official residence in central Seoul on Saturday evening.

(Yonhap)

You can read more at the link.

The divide between the pro and anti-Yoon sides in South Korea is continuing to deepen:

About two dozen students, alumni and others gathered at Ewha Womans University in Seoul last week, denouncing the National Assembly’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol as “invalid,” only to encounter another group of students holding an in-school rally calling for Yoon’s ouster at the same time.

The encounter quickly escalated into violence as dozens of pro-Yoon YouTubers and activists broke into the campus to join forces, along with an opposing group of anti-Yoon student activists, despite the female-only university’s ban on outsiders entering the campus for any rally.

Insults were hurled between the opposing groups, while some tugged at others before the scene was brought to an end only after university officials and police personnel were mobilized.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Yoon wants to make changes to the Constitution if he is reinstated and the changes are made he will step down:

Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he will focus on revising the Constitution if reinstated, suggesting he could step down before the end of his single, five-year term.

Yoon made the remark in his final statement before the Constitutional Court, which is expected to deliver a ruling by mid-March on whether to uphold or dismiss his impeachment over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

“I will gather the will of the people and swiftly push for a constitutional amendment, doing my best to produce a Constitution and political structure that fit the changes in our society,” he said during the final hearing of his impeachment trial at the court.

“If a constitutional amendment and political reform are pursued correctly, I believe the separated and divided people will unite in the process,” he said.

“If that happens, there will be no reason to cling to the remainder of my term as guaranteed under the Constitution, and if anything, it will be a great honor,” he added.

South Korea’s Constitution limits presidents to a single, five-year term, but Yoon’s remark suggests he could accept calls to change the limit to two four-year terms and apply the rule to himself.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this seems almost like a last effort hail mary in order to sway the court to not uphold the impeachment.

Things are not looking good for Yoon with the majority of the ROK public wanting his impeachment upheld:

More than half of South Koreans said the Constitutional Court should uphold the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol to remove him from office for his short-lived martial law declaration, a survey showed Monday.

In the same survey, 50.7 percent replied they viewed the Constitutional Court’s impeachment trial process to be “fair,” while 45 percent said it was “unfair.”

According to the survey by Realmeter on 1,006 people aged 18 and older conducted last Thursday and Friday, 52 percent of the respondents said the court should rule to dismiss Yoon, while 45.1 percent said it should reinstate him as president following his impeachment by the National Assembly in December.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if Hong has an immunity deal of some kind in return for his testimony? If so it should be disclosed:

A list of politicians who President Yoon Suk Yeol allegedly ordered to be arrested has been at the center of the president’s impeachment trial this month along with the whistleblower who disclosed it as crucial evidence. Hong Jang-won, one of 16 witnesses summoned in Yoon’s impeachment, which began on Jan. 14, is the only figure who has been called into the Constitutional Court twice.

As a graduate of the 43rd class of the Korea Military Academy, Hong worked as South Korea’s top spy specializing in overseas intelligence and North Korea for over 30 years. (…….)

Hong appeared in court again on Thursday after the president’s legal team raised concerns about the credibility of his testimony. Hong’s testimony given on Feb. 4 drew significant attention as he claimed that Yoon ordered him to arrest key political figures on the night of the short-lived martial law declaration on Dec. 3.

“Take this opportunity to round them (the lawmakers) all up. The NIS will be given counterespionage authority, so for now, assist the Defense Counterintelligence Command (in doing so),” Yoon told him, according to Hong. (……..)

According to Hong, soon after Yoon called him at 10:53 p.m., he received a call from then-DCC chief Yeo In-hyeong, who listed the names of the people to be arrested that night.

“‘Is he insane?’ I thought, and then I stopped writing (people’s names) during the call,” Hong testified in court on Feb. 4, recalling his reaction as he heard the names.

“Lee Jae-myung, Woo Won-shik, Han Dong-hoon, Park Chan-dae, Cho Kook…” Hong listed the names without hesitance when Yoon’s lawyer asked who they were.

However, NIS Director Cho Tae-yong — Hong’s boss — raised strong doubts about the veracity of the alleged note during his own testimony as a witness on Feb. 13.

“I’ve checked the surveillance camera footage,” Cho told the court, adding that Hong was in his office at the time when he claims he was near Cho’s official residence.

Hong on Thursday admitted to a “slight error” in his memory.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but how do you have memory lapses with something as significant as this?