On December 14, the National Assembly of South Korea voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. Two-hundred and four votes were cast to suspend Yoon from office from the 300-member house with 85 dissenting. Eight votes were declared invalid and three voted abstentions, according to The New York Times.
Yoon was initially considered for impeachment due to his decision to enforce martial law on December 3 to root out anti-state forces, according to BBC. South Korea’s constitution allows the president to use the military during “wartime, war-like situations or other comparable national emergency states,” AP News explains. However, the reality was that he was “furious and frustrated by the inability to get anything through an opposition-dominated National Assembly,” Just Security stated. Martial law refers to “suspending basic civil rights and limiting the powers of courts and government agencies.” Approximately 300 troops gathered at the National Assembly as lawmakers forcefully made their way in and voted 190-0 in the 300-member legislature to cancel the declaration. The martial law lasted only six hours, but the following turmoil is expected to last much longer. Days before the impeachment decision, the nation—from university students, employees, to K-pop fans—started hourly strikes, displaying mixed emotions nationwide.
Yoon survived an earlier impeachment vote on December 7 because his party “boycotted the vote, depriving parliament of a quorum,” according to Reuters. The members of Yoon’s party hoped that the president would “voluntarily resign instead,” CNN reports. However, Yoon gave another speech on December 12 defending his martial law decision which caused the second impeachment motion. The second attempt was successful because over 12 members of Yoon’s party supported the opposition’s votes, reaching the required two-thirds threshold.
“I think the most important thing is that the Republic of Korea has demonstrated its democratic resilience,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with Reuters. “We’ve seen it follow a peaceful process laid out in its constitution, and we’re ready to work with President Han as he assumes office.”
While the votes were being cast to remove Yoon from office, protestors gathered outside the National Assembly compound to dance to music as a mark of unity. Instead of the rally being only seen as a political response, the unique method of protest signified a sense of cultural identity of oneself within the nation. The moment 200 votes needed for impeachment were reached, citizens gathered to sing along to the song, “Into the New World” by Girls’ Generation. As music blasted into the night air, citizens waved light sticks generally reserved for K-pop concerts instead of waving the usual candles. This was mainly because during the last impeachment of a South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, an official commented that “candles blow out even with the slightest of wind.” To deliver the idea that their will cannot be wavered, the protesters used light sticks instead.
As groups in favor and against Yoon’s impeachment all headed home after waiting hours in the freezing weather to hear the results, many still acknowledged that this does not mean South Korea’s political turmoil will end.
“I will never give up,” Yoon told Yonhap News as he expressed his intention to fight for his political future in the Constitutional Court. During his televised address, Yoon did not justify nor express regret for his martial law declaration.
On the other hand, opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung addressed the crowd, predicting a long journey ahead of them: “You, the people, made it. You are writing a new history […] We’ve only just overcome a small hill. There is a larger, steeper mountain ahead.”
The Constitutional Court will decide on whether to sustain Yoon’s impeachment within the next six months, BBC clarifies. If it is declared that Yoon be removed from office, an emergency election will be held. While Yoon is suspended from office, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duk-soo is planned to be the interim leader.
