A screen shows footage of President Yun Seok-Yeol addressing the nation at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea on December 7, 2024.
Jung Sung Joon | Getty Images News | Getty Images
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol was impeached on Saturday in a vote that stemmed from a brief failed attempt to impose martial law in early December.
If the incumbent is removed from office or resigns, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
The previous impeachment motion submitted on December 7th failed to receive 200 of the required 300 votes in the South Korean National Assembly because allied members of Yun’s People Power Party left their seats before the motion was raised. . The tide has since changed, and on Thursday, Democratic Progressive Party leader Han Dong-hoon expressed support for Congress to vote to impeach Yoon and called for an ethics committee to discuss Yoon’s departure from the party. According to South Korea’s Yonhap News.
The motion was made on December 3 when Yoon temporarily suspended martial law for the first time since the military coup in 1979, citing “the need to protect the constitutional order based on freedom and eradicate shameful pro-North Korean anti-national forces.” was instigated by opposition members. A group that is stealing our people’s freedom and happiness. ” According to a report from NBC News. The measure was rescinded within six hours, but questions arose as to whether Mr. Yun might try to impose martial law across the country again.
Since taking office as president in 2022, the president has faced a number of scandals, many of them involving his wife, businessman Kim Kun-hee. plummeted to 17.3% In the days after the Dec. 3 incident, Mr. Yoon, who had initially said he was putting his fate in the hands of his party, balked at growing calls for his resignation from opposition lawmakers and peaceful protesters. I resisted. He is prohibited from leaving the country.
Yoon is not the first South Korean president to face an impeachment vote since the turn of the century, with Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye removed from office in 2016 as a result of impeachment.
On Thursday, Yun delivered a long and defiant speech to the nation, pledging to “fight to the end” and “stand resolutely.” According to a report from NBC News.
“The opposition parties are currently going wild, claiming that the declaration of martial law is tantamount to a riot,” Yun said. “Are their claims true?”
The political turmoil initially spooked markets and raised concerns about the democratic stability of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, but John Woods, chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, said South Korean watchdogs now believe that “this “We will overcome the crisis” and refocus on domestic revenues. .
“I certainly think we’re seeing the endgame, and I’m sure it will continue into the first quarter of next year,” Woods told CNBC’s Tanvir Gill on Thursday. “This instability around the political landscape is something that we need to consider very seriously. But certainly there is certainly broader policy value.” [South] South Korea as a proxy AI cannot be overlooked either. ”
Technology, chips and the burgeoning AI industry play a central role in South Korea’s International Monetary Fund-backed economy. prediction It is expected to expand by 2.5% this year.
