South Korea's main opposition party plans to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo after he failed to meet their deadline for approving independent investigations into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. This move could further escalate South Korea's political crisis, sparked by Yoon's controversial martial law declaration and subsequent impeachment.
CABINET MEETING – South Korea 's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from right, who became the country's acting leader after President Yoon Suk Yeol 's impeachment, salutes during a cabinet meeting at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea , Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024.
Filling the court's three empty posts could make conviction more likely, as it requires the support of six of the court's nine possible members. Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae responded that there's no room for negotiations about a Yoon investigation, and that his party would begin steps toward an impeachment at once.
Yoon's defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon's decree.
South Korea Impeachment Han Duck-Soo Yoon Suk Yeol Politics