After his ruling party’s boycott of Saturday’s ( December 7 ) vote, South Korea’s National Assembly failed to receive the 200 votes needed to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol. However, the government’s unexpected political crisis is still ongoing, as opposition politicians have pledged to file a new prosecution petition in the coming days.
Before today’s prosecution vote, rumor-busting members of the ruling People’s Power Party walked out of the parliamentary chamber, putting an end to the speculation that Yoon might be in trouble with his surprise decision to impose martial legislation this month, which he retracted after about six days.
Yoon stated in a televised address on December 3 that he would impose martial law to overthrow “pro-North Vietnamese and anti-government makes.” Then Yoon imposed a ban on all National Assembly activities and deployed military forces to detain key opposition figures and seized control of the legislature.
But, lawmakers defied the order and finally convened to voting down the military law order universally. The president’s deposed order was afterwards called an illegal self-coup effort by six opposition parties, who later filed an senate motion against him.
Even though at least two of its legislators had already indicated they would vote against the group’s collection as of December 6, the People’s Power Party formally declared its opposition to impeachment.
Yoon’s next unexpected regional address, delivered a few hours before the prosecution vote, consolidated the group’s rank and file. Yoon expressed his deep regret in a small talk,” I apologize to all South Koreans who were surprised by the military law.”
“I’ll give my gathering the rest of my term and all the steps I need to maintain the nation.” Our party and the government may assume responsibility for progressing up, Yoon continued, suggesting that he would delegate some of his political duties to the party.
Yoon’s group is then expected to have a bigger influence on how the nation is run, which may or may not help give the People’s Power Party’s waning legitimacy to be a minority group in the government. His apologies even provided a pretext for the ruling party to rebel against popular opinion.
Ruling group chief , Han Dong-hoon , held a meeting with Prime Minister , Han Duck-soo , shortly after Yoon’s talk, at which they were expected to had sketched out how the government would run following the vote.
However, over one million South Koreans gathered in front of the National Assembly in freezing temperatures to require Yoon’s prosecution. The majority of voters predicted that Yoon may lose in the election.
” I think there will be politicians who vote against group ranges”, a 43-year-old rebel Kim Young-ae told Asia Times. Yoon is demonstrating his stubbornness when he needs to move over. I hope the ruling group gets a morality”.
Another prototype, Kim Dong-yoon, said, “people are now walking on the road to success. We are making history by presiding over the crimes against the traitor Yoon Suk Yeol and his fans.
But, as the ruling party users walked out, making the vote debate, desire and enthusiasm turned to despair. Some protesters sobbed and yelled profanity at the floor, while others yelled at one another in protest. The majority of them appeared confused and drained.
Is the ruling party definitely a people’s group? asked 28-year-old Park Seo-yeon. They “illegally boycotted the ballot to serve their interests,” the statement read.
Some took issue with the Women’s Power Party’s approach of opposing prosecution.
” There are so many people gathered around. They ought to exercise some dignity and at least ballot. They are disrespecting the citizens and the congressional branch”, said 33-year-old Song Yoo-min.
After the ruling party lawmakers left the chambers, unhappy activists surrounded the 1.4 square-kilometer National Assembly, properly blocking them in. Some protesters stormed the Person’s Power Party’s primary business, where they locked antlers with local law enforcement.
Lee Jae-myung, head of the Democratic Party, the world’s largest opposition party, called the People’s Power Party a” treacherous and illegal group” and vowed to introduce the prosecution movement again on December 11.
Lee stated in a press conference that his party do” consistently introduce the prosecution motion each month” in the hopes that the ruling party may experience more tension each time it casts a ballot against it.
The ruling party claimed that the impeachment would have “paralyzed government operations and suspended a constitutional government.” Instead, it suggested other ways to hold the president accountable for his martial law decree, including a potential constitutional amendment to shorten the term.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Han’s role in government is projected to increase significantly. Han stated in a press release that he would do everything in his power to make sure” this situation is resolved as soon as possible and that people’s lives are kept stable.”
Han, the leader of the ruling party, added,” I will work with the prime minister to provide for the public.” Under the country’s constitution, the prime minister’s role is to assist the president and direct the ministries following orders from the president.
However, experts expressed concern that South Korea’s already polarized society will become even more divided if the impeachment process is unreliable.
At a symposium held on December 6th, Ahn Doo-hwan, a professor of political science at Seoul National University, said,” The impeachment process can further polarize South Korean society.”
” Korea’s conservative]ruling ] party cannot settle on a new ideology to rally around. That is why they bring in outside celebrities]like Yoon ] to garner the public’s support. And sometimes that backfires”, Ahn added.
Another SNU professor, Kang Won-taek, said,” Yoon is no longer in a position to lead the government”.
The symposium’s seven political experts all agreed that Yoon’s martial law was unconstitutional and illegal. However, no one could come to an agreement on how South Korea could emerge from this political unrest as a resilient democracy.
The only thing that seems certain right now is that as South Korea’s political crisis develops, the streets of Seoul will be rife with protesters.
Lee Seung-ku is a Seoul-based freelance journalist.