Tag: politics

Any bets on if there will be violent riots by anti-Yoon leftists this weekend if Yoon is reinstated or by pro-Yoon protesters if the impeachment is upheld?:

The Constitutional Court said it will deliver its ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment at 11 a.m. Friday, raising hopes of an end to the political turmoil that has gripped the nation since his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

The verdict will be delivered from the court and live broadcasts will be allowed, along with the attendance of members of the public, the court said in a notice to the press Tuesday.

The ruling will come nearly four months after Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly on charges of violating the Constitution and laws through his brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is a good day for Lee Jae-myung who many consider the front runner to be the next president of Korea:

An appeals court on Wednesday acquitted opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of lying as a presidential candidate during the 2022 election, overturning a lower court’s sentence of a suspended prison term.

The decision by the Seoul High Court removed a major legal hurdle for Lee, as a suspended prison term, if finalized, would have stripped him of his parliamentary seat and barred him from running in the next presidential election.

The appellate ruling can still be overturned by the Supreme Court.

Yonhap

First of all the law to prosecute politicians for lying seems like one that can be easily weaponized by the political opposition. With that said here is what Lee was accused of lying about:

During the initial trial, the opposition leader was found guilty of lying during a media interview in December 2021 that he did not play golf with the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corp., which was behind a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when Lee was the city’s mayor.

Lee was also found guilty of lying during a parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi provincial government in October 2021 that he was under pressure from the land ministry to rezone the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in Seongnam.

The site was later developed into apartment complexes by a private developer, and allegations were raised that Lee rezoned the land to give preferential treatment to the company.

In November, the lower court sentenced Lee to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

In reversing that decision, however, the Seoul High Court said none of the four remarks Lee made during the campaign about allegedly not knowing Kim qualified as false statements. That included the remark about golf.

“He cannot be considered to have lied that they did not play golf, and it is difficult to recognize the remark as false,” the appeals court said.

On the alleged pressure from the land ministry, the court acknowledged that Lee “came under pressure from various angles.”

“His remark that he was threatened with charges of dereliction of duty could be an exaggerated expression of the considerable pressure he felt at the time, but it is difficult to recognize as false,” the court said.

From this article to me it is unclear whether he played golf with Kim Moon-ki and instead of lying about the pressure from the land ministry the appeals court believes he was just exaggerating. That is the area of this law that can be easily weaponized. Politicians exaggerate and bend the truth all the time. Should they be prosecuted everytime they do this?

It seems to me that if this impeachment decision is being released on Monday that Yoon’s impeachment decision will likely be later in the week:

The Constitutional Court said Thursday it will deliver its ruling on Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s impeachment over martial law-related allegations next week.

The verdict will be announced at 10 a.m. Monday, the court said in a notice to the press, three months after he was impeached by the National Assembly over a string of allegations related to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed bid to impose martial law in December.

If the impeachment motion is upheld, Han will be removed from office. If it is dismissed, he will be reinstated.

Under the Constitution, the consent of at least six justices is required to uphold an impeachment motion. There are currently eight justices on the bench.

The motion against Han lists five reasons for his impeachment, including his alleged involvement in imposing martial law, his refusal to appoint additional justices to the Constitutional Court, and his refusal to promulgate two special counsel bills targeting Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The longer this is taking I think shows that a majority of the judges is currently against impeachment or still undecided with their decision:

The Constitutional Court’s deliberation on the motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol is taking longer than expected, as more than three weeks have passed since hearings ended in late February.

Deliberations in the impeachment cases of former presidents Park Geun-hye and Roh Moo-hyun concluded within two weeks.

Although Justice Cheong Hyung-sik, who presides over the case, stressed in December a speedy ruling on the case of Yoon and his short-lived martial law imposition, the court bench has yet to announce the date for its final verdict as of press time. The court typically announces verdict dates at least two or three weekdays in advance, meaning without an announcement Wednesday, it will likely be delivered next week. (………..)

A majority opinion of at least six of eight justices is required to uphold an impeachment.

Kim Seon-taek, a professor of law at Korea University who specializes in constitutional law, said the amount of time it was taking suggested a lack of consensus among the justices.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Here is an interesting ruling from the Constitutional Court that these four officials impeached by the DPK controlled National Assembly should be reinstated:

The Constitutional Court of Korea on Thursday dismissed the National Assembly’s impeachment motion against Choe Jae-hae, who had been suspended from his duties as chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and three prosecutors, reinstating them immediately to their positions.

Thursday’s rulings were seen as a potential indicator of how the court might approach key issues in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment trial, including his claim that the main opposition party has obstructed state affairs by impeaching key administration officials.

The court had yet to announce the date for Yoon’s verdict as of Thursday afternoon.

Yoon has argued several times during his trial that the main opposition Democratic Party’s attempts to impeach these four officials were among the reasons behind his decision to declare martial law, claiming that a succession of impeachments of high-ranking officials has paralyzed state affairs.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Korea is a country where judges tend to factor in public sentiment when making decisions. That is why you see both the DPK and PPP trying hard to court public opinon against and for Yoon before the court’s impeachment decision:

Police buses surround the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Wednesday, to prevent violent clashes as a verdict on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment nears. Yonhap

As political gridlock deepens over the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, meaningful policy debate has all but vanished from Korea’s political landscape.

Following Yoon’s sudden release from detention last week ahead of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, both the ruling and opposition parties have escalated their rhetoric, with loud protests now dominating the National Assembly. With the Assembly’s role as a national representative body increasingly sidelined, concerns are mounting that the growing partisan conflict will not only undermine the court’s decision but further destabilize the country, according to experts.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) said Wednesday that it would not directly confront the opposition’s escalating street protests calling for Yoon’s impeachment.

“If serious issues arise, the PPP will take collective action, just as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has. However, we will not resort to street protests or hunger strikes to pressure the Constitutional Court, as the DPK is doing. Instead, we will express our stance through official parliamentary channels,” PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong told reporters at the National Assembly in Seoul.

However, the conservative party’s decision appears to be driven more by political strategy than policy concerns. The party seems cautious that organizing an official rally could give a platform to the more extreme voices within Yoon’s support base, potentially alienating centrist voters, whose support is already fragile.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

https://x.com/SungYoonLee1/status/1898895841026572732

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.