by Admin
Dec 4, 2024
Things went south for South Korean President Suk Yeol after the South Korean parliament vetoed his declaration of martial law after the president accused his citizens and opposition parliament members of being sympathetic and aiding insurgency with the North Korean government.
President Suk Yeol said that “I am imposing martial law to protect the country from anti-state forces that sympathized with North Korea”. Less than two hours after the announcement, the military and police were deployed and took over the streets and the airspace. In contrast, the military headed towards the parliament building where the members of parliament were gathered to vote against the martial law.
The military then announced that all parliamentary activity was suspended under martial law while protesters stormed the building to prevent the military from entering the building and disrupting the proceedings while other protesters took to the streets of Seoul, the capital city to protest against the presidential imposed martial law.
Lee Jae-myung, the opposition’s Democratic Party leader went on a live broadcast and called on the citizens to assemble at the parliament building and defend their democratic rights to freedom. He further pleaded with his fellow members of parliament to ensure that they found their way into the building to ensure a fair vote was held to counter the presidential martial law.
The Democratic main opposition party whose lawmakers were forced to jump over the parliamentary fence fences and wrestled with security forces so they could vote to overturn martial law.
President Suk Yeol, a conservative politician and former reputable public prosecutor, was elected president in 2022 and has been facing serious allegations from the opposition parties. On May 9, 2024, the president issued a public apology for his wife’s actions of accepting an expensive luxury handbag as a gift.
On November 26, President Yeol vetoed a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into corruption allegations involving his wife, the third time he rejected the opposition-led bill. These and many other cases have plagued President Suk Yeol and his latest attempt to declare a nationwide martial law which was short-lived by the parliament and a call for his impeachment was made by opposition leaders.
The liberal opposition Democratic party, which holds a majority in the 300-seat parliament, said its lawmakers had decided to call on President Yeol to stand down straight away or they would take steps to impeach him.
He said, “President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration was a clear violation of the constitution. It didn’t abide by any requirements to declare it”.
Kim Yong-Hyun, the defense minister, has issued his resignation letter amidst an impeachment motion from the Democratic party. If President Yeol accepts Kim’s resignation before parliament votes, the defense minister would no longer be subject to the impeachment process.
The South Korean parliament is set to vote over the impeachment process on Friday against President Yeol after a series of parliamentarians submitted their letter for the call for an impeachment trial against the president.