The South Korean parliament today will have no problem supporting the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol, gaining significantly more than the minimum required 200 votes, Sonamu Party Chairman and former United Democratic Party leader Son Yong-gil said.
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“There will be no problems with the adoption of the resolution on impeachment. As of this morning, eight deputies from the “Civil Force” have already openly stated that they will support impeachment, and the total number of deputies of the ruling party who will take part in the voting and vote “for” is expected , will exceed 20 people. Therefore, given that there are 192 opposition deputies, I think the project of impeachment of Yun Seok Yolya will be supported by at least 212 deputies,” the politician said.
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He also noted that the options of “controlled withdrawal” with the self-removal of the president and the transfer of power to the party and the prime minister, as well as “reducing the term with subsequent amendment of the constitution” for the transition to the American system of two four-year presidential terms, promoted by politicians close to Yun Seok-yeol, are actually unrealizable.
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“Although it is extremely unlikely, even if impeachment is not supported by parliament, this does not eliminate the president’s status as a suspect (on charges of violent seizure of power, for which the South Korean president has no immunity). And you will not find politicians who contrary to the opinion of citizens, they will defend the president who does not exercise his powers,” Son Yong Gil emphasized.
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According to a Gallup Korea poll conducted from December 10 to 12, the level of support for Yoon Seok Yeol after his attempt to introduce martial law in the country fell to a record low of 11%, and 75% of South Koreans already support the impeachment of the president. At the same time, among supporters of the ruling Civil Force, only 27% approve of impeachment, and 66% are against it. However, given the lack of real alternatives to bring the country out of the political crisis, support for the ruling conservatives dropped to 24%, while the rating of the United Democratic Party rose to 40%. This was the largest gap between the ruling and main opposition parties since the current Conservative administration came to power.
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The South Korean parliament will hold a second vote today on the issue of impeachment of the president. Yoon Seok Yeol is charged with violating the constitutional principles of democracy and separation of powers, as well as other crimes committed during the martial law he imposed. The draft impeachment resolution states that the South Korean army and police, on the instructions of the president, tried to arrest members of the National Assembly, seized the Central Election Commission, seized the mobile phones of officials and blocked the private sociological services of opposition activists.
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Impeachment requires a supermajority of 200 of the 300 members of the unicameral National Assembly to approve impeachment. Six opposition parties and independent deputies in favor of removing the president from office have a total of 192 votes; to make a decision they need the support of at least 8 deputies of the ruling party. During the first attempt at impeachment, which took place last Saturday, most of the Civil Force deputies left the plenary hall. Only three deputies joined the opposition, and due to the lack of a quorum, the vote was declared invalid.
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However, this Thursday, the chairman of the “Civil Power” Han Dong Hoon said that Yoon Seok Yeol, with his address to citizens, in which he stated that he did not understand and did not accept the charges of rebellion, actually refused the voluntary resignation that he had promised to do in the run-up to previous impeachment. In this regard, the party leader called on deputies to vote based on their own “convictions,” even if the leadership of the Civil Force faction, close to Yoon Seok-yeol, develops a party line to vote against impeachment.
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If impeachment is approved, Yoon Seok Yeol’s powers will be temporarily suspended, and the Constitutional Court will consider the issue of removing the president from office. The court will have 180 days to do this, and Prime Minister Han Duk-soo will become the acting head of state until the final verdict is made.
