South Korean Lawmakers Move To Impeach President Over Short-Lived Martial Law Order

South Korean lawmakers are moving to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over a short-lived martial law declaration that was unanimously shot down in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Opposition parties in South Korea introduced a motion to impeach Yoon on Wednesday. That motion could be voted on as early as this week and would require a two-thirds majority to pass the unicameral National Assembly. Six of the nine justices on South Korea’s Constitutional Court would then have to approve the motion to remove Yoon from office, according to the Associated Press.

The opposition coalition in the National Assembly, led by South Korea’s Democratic Party, holds 191 seats in the 300-seat parliament, so the impeachment motion would need support from some members of Yoon’s own People Power Party to pass.

Parliament members voted unanimously 190-0 in an emergency session early Wednesday to rescind Yoon’s Tuesday martial law declaration. That vote included more than a dozen members from Yoon’s party.

The situation means that Yoon, a conservative politician who has been friendly with the United States, may be nearing the end of his political career. His martial law order shocked even members of his own party and inspired widespread backlash. Armed soldiers surrounded the National Assembly and clashed with protesters in a scene reminiscent of South Korea’s military rule of the 1980s.

Yoon’s gamble has left experts wondering what the president believed would happen.

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“I was in Seoul less than two weeks ago meeting with very senior officials and there was no indication that Yoon would do this, or even a warning of Yoon’s growing anger,” said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow and expert on northeast Asia for The Heritage Foundation. “It really was quite a shocking development. I think it caught everyone by surprise.”

“I think the implications are that Yoon, perhaps, is a dead man walking, and that he may well be impeached to be replaced by someone who will not be in line with U.S. objectives,” Klingner told The Daily Wire.

Yoon delivered a speech denouncing “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people” before declaring martial law. The military rule, which placed strict regulations on the media and political activity, was to remain in effect until Yoon could “eradicate anti-state forces … and normalize the country,” he said.

The president cited an unworkable relationship with South Korea’s opposition-led National Assembly, which had targeted 22 officials for impeachment since Yoon took office in 2022 and, according to Yoon, planned to target 10 more officials. The president also cited National Assembly reductions in the national budget, which he said “undermined the essential functions of the state and turned Korea into a drug paradise and a public order panic.”

Yoon’s complaints about the parliament fell short of justifying a declaration of martial law, however. The National Assembly’s behavior, while obstructionist, was carried out through constitutional means, according to Klingner.

“It does seem to be extra-constitutional actions by the president,” Klingner said. “There is a clause, which he cited in his declaration, as allowing the president to declare martial law, but that is reserved for war, armed conflict, or a national emergency, none of which seems to be prevalent here.”