South Korea is facing a big political crisis. President Yoon Suk Yeol just escaped being removed from his position after an impeachment vote last Saturday. Now, prosecutors are looking into him because he briefly declared martial law last week. The former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, has also been arrested for this situation.
Park Se-hyun, who is in charge of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, started the investigation after getting several complaints. The president’s office hasn’t said anything about this yet. This is a big change for Yoon, who used to be a prosecutor and helped put former President Park Geun-hye in jail for a big scandal.
On Sunday, the effects of the martial law declaration continued, leading to the resignation of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min. Han Dong-hoon, from the ruling People Power Party, tried to calm people down by saying Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would handle the country’s problems while they plan for Yoon’s exit. He stated, “The president will not be involved in any state affairs, including diplomacy, before he leaves.”
The martial law declaration surprised many, including South Korea’s allies. Han emphasized the importance of keeping strong ties with the US and Japan for national security and maintaining the US-Korea alliance. He also said passing the government budget plan is crucial for the country to function normally.
The opposition was not happy about the president and prime minister sharing powers. Parliament Speaker Woo Won-shik called it “unconstitutional” and asked for a meeting to suspend the president’s duties. He mentioned it is unclear who is in charge of South Korea right now.
The opposition party, which has most seats in the parliament, strongly criticized the president. They labeled Prime Minister Han’s actions as “unconstitutional and anarchic,” and they plan to push for another impeachment vote quickly.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said the government will take fast action to control the situation. President Yoon ended the martial law just hours after it was announced because parliament rejected it. He survived the impeachment vote because lawmakers from his party did not attend.
Leave a Reply