NIGHT OF CHAOS
The impeachment follows a night of chaos after Yoon declared martial law and armed troops attempted to force their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul, only to stand back when parliamentary aides sprayed them with fire extinguishers.
The commander of the martial law troops said he had no intention of wielding firearms against the public, and Kim, the vice defence minister, said no live ammunition had been provided to those troops.
“The people and the aides who protected parliament protected us with their bodies. The people won, and it’s now time for us to protect the people,” the Democratic Party’s Kim said.
“We need to immediately suspend the authority of President Yoon. He has committed an indelible, historic crime against the people, whose anxiety needs to be soothed so that they can return to their daily lives”.
The martial law crisis rattled global financial markets and South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index. Currency dealers reported suspected state intervention on Wednesday to keep the won stable.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok sent an emergency note to global financial chiefs and credit rating agencies late on Wednesday to say the ministry was working to alleviate any adverse impact from political turmoil.
If the impeachment bill passes, South Korea’s Constitutional Court will then decide whether to uphold the motion – a process that could take up to 180 days.
If Yoon were to be suspended from exercising power, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in as leader.
If the embattled president resigned or was removed from office, a new election would be held within 60 days.
Yoon, a career prosecutor, squeezed out a victory in the tightest presidential election in South Korean history in 2022, riding a wave of discontent over economic policy, scandals and gender wars.
But his support ratings have been at around 20 per cent for months and the opposition captured nearly two-thirds of seats in parliament in an April election.
