Most Popular
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President Yoon Suk Yeol says will entrust state affairs to ruling party
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Motion to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol scrapped
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Bill to investigate Kim Keon Hee fails to pass
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[Breaking] Majority of ruling party lawmakers exit after vote on first lady probe
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Nobel Prize winner Han Kang expresses shock over martial law news
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[Breaking] Yoon to step back from state affairs, diplomacy: ruling party leader
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Uncertainty looms over Yoon's plans to delegate power to party
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Singing K-pop, chanting slogans, masses fill Seoul streets for and against impeachment
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[Exclusive] Capital Defense Command meant to protect Seoul was strong choice to detain top lawmakers: source
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Ex-Defense Minister arrested for insurrection, abuse of authority
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Member of Yoon Seok Yeol's party pledges to vote to impeach unless removal plan presented
Rep. Kim Sang-wook of the ruling People Power Party said on Sunday that he will vote in favor of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment unless a clear roadmap for his removal from office is presented. He was one of three PPP lawmakers who cast a ballot during Saturday’s botched vote on the opposition-led motion to initiate Yoon’s impeachment over his imposition of martial law on Tuesday. After the vote, which put him in the media spotlight, Rep. Kim revealed that he voted agains
Dec. 8, 2024
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Visually impaired lawmaker had tried to scale walls on martial law day
Kim Yea-ji, South Korea’s first visually impaired lawmaker and a member of the ruling People Power Party, is in the spotlight as one of the only three from her party to participate in the parliamentary vote to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday. The National Assembly’s motion failed due to a failure to meet the quorum after lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party boycotted the vote. It resurfaced Sunday that Kim sought to enter the parliament building immediately afte
Dec. 8, 2024
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[News Analysis] How will North Korea react to South Korea’s political crisis?
North Korea is widely expected to remain silent amid South Korea's political turbulence, defined by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s survival of an impeachment motion on Saturday, followed by the ruling party’s announcement on Sunday calling for his "orderly early resignation." However, the prospect of Pyongyang exploiting South Korea's perceived political vulnerabilities through provocations cannot be ruled out. If Pyongyang remains tight-lipped, the decision will under
Dec. 8, 2024
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Prosecutors name Yoon as suspect in insurrection probe
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol narrowly avoided impeachment on Saturday after the motion was scrapped for failing to meet the quorum of two-thirds of the 300-member Assembly. However, his legal troubles are far from over. Police, prosecutors and corruption authorities have all begun wide-ranging investigations into his controversial declaration of martial law and opposition parties vow to pursue alternative avenues of accountability. The prosecution said Sunday the president has been booke
Dec. 8, 2024
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Kim Keon Hee narrowly escapes investigation in close vote
First lady Kim Keon Hee narrowly avoided a special counsel investigation on Saturday as a revote on a bill to launch a probe into allegations against her fell just two votes short of passing in the National Assembly. In a vote of 198-102, the bill to appoint a special counsel narrowly failed to win the required two-thirds majority in the 300-member parliament. The revote took place before a separate motion to impeach Yoon, which also got scrapped due to a lack of quorum. While the rejection spar
Dec. 8, 2024
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Speaker Woo Won-shik proposes bipartisan talks on Yoon Suk Yeol’s fate
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on Sunday voiced his opposition against the proposed joint exercise of presidential authority by the prime minister and the ruling party. "The president's authority comes from the people, and any process to strip it or delegate it must follow the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty,” he stressed. He was referring to the stability plan presented earlier Sunday by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ruling People Power Party ch
Dec. 8, 2024
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President Yoon Suk Yeol's office silent after impeachment scrapped
Since the impeachment motion at the National Assembly failed, President Yoon Suk Yeol's office had remained silent as of press time Sunday. Yoon's office express no opinion about the vote, which ended 9:20 p.m. Saturday after falling short of the 200 votes needed to pass. Neither did it make any public announcement concerning Yoon's decision based on his power to appoint or sack a Cabinet member under the Constitution. The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced that the Interio
Dec. 8, 2024
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Han Duck-soo pledges stability, but his authority is in question
After the National Assembly failed to pass the motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed Sunday morning to “humbly seek cooperation” with the ruling People Power Party to “ensure all state functions operate smoothly and stably.” However, the opposing Democratic Party of Korea denounced such plans, claiming that such measures are “unconstitutional.” According to the Constitution, the prime minister is
Dec. 8, 2024
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Ruling camp vows to take over Yoon's role
The prime minister and the leader of the ruling conservative party on Sunday jointly announced their plans to fill in for President Yoon Suk Yeol, claiming he will no longer be involved in handling state affairs, in a move that was denounced by the main opposition as unconstitutional. In a public address given by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and the ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon, the two said they will cooperate in operational matters related to "national governance." Ha
Dec. 8, 2024
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Opposition brands ruling party’s plan to fill in for Yoon unconstitutional
The Democratic Party of Korea rejected the ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon’s proposal that his party and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in while President Yoon Suk Yeol is phased out of office. In a joint address to the nation Sunday, Han said his party and the prime minister would lead the running of the country as the president steps down in an orderly transition of power. Rep. Kim Min-seok, the No. 2 of the Democratic Party, said the ruling party proposal to take
Dec. 8, 2024
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Can Yoon Suk Yeol be suspended without impeachment?
South Korea is facing unprecedented political turmoil as the ruling People Power Party, led by its chair Han Dong-hoon, grapples with the exit strategy that would otherwise determine the fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Amid the opposition Democratic Party of Korea's persistent push for Yoon's impeachment following allegations of insurrection, the conservative ruling bloc has now strategically shifted toward calls for Yoon's “orderly resignation,” arguing that this pat
Dec. 8, 2024
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[Breaking] Prosecution names President Yoon Suk Yeol as suspect
The Special Prosecutor’s Office said Sunday that President Yoon Suk Yeol is now a suspect facing potential charges of insurrection and abuse of power. Park Se-hyun, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office who leads the prosecution’s investigation into last week’s martial law turmoil, confirmed the news during a press briefing. “We have received numerous complaints against President Yoon Suk Yeol, and we are conducting investigations accordingly. Procedurally, it is
Dec. 8, 2024
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[Breaking] Yoon to step back from state affairs, diplomacy: ruling party leader
President Yoon Suk Yeol will step back from state affairs, including diplomacy, as the ruling party and the Cabinet pursue his "early resignation," ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon said Sunday. "President Yoon will not be involved in handling state affairs, including diplomacy, even before his resignation," Han said in a public statement jointly released with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The statement was released in connection with the second meeting between the
Dec. 8, 2024
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Polarized parliament fails to hold Yoon Suk Yeol responsible
South Korea’s parliament failed to vote on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on Saturday, with rival political parties sharply divided over what to do with the besieged president. The ruling People Power Party boycotted the opposition-led impeachment motion, choosing to keep the president in office for now. The collective walkout by almost all of the conservative party’s 108 lawmakers contrasted with its participation in another parliamentary vote hours earlier, which eff
Dec. 8, 2024
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[Breaking] Prime minister, ruling party leader to release joint public statement
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ruling People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon will release a joint public statement after holding a second meeting in response to President Yoon Suk Yeol's decree of martial law late Tuesday, the prime minister's office said Sunday. Though the agenda of the meeting has yet to be announced, observers say that various scenarios that could lessen Yoon's grip on his constitutional power will be discussed. The prime minister will convene an extraordinary
Dec. 8, 2024
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Ex-Defense Minister arrested for insurrection, abuse of authority
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was arrested on suspicion of insurrection by advising conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol to declare martial law, according to the prosecution on Sunday. He is the first person to be arrested in connection with the six-hour martial law crisis in South Korea. Investigative authorities in South Korea -- police and the prosecution -- are racing to look into Kim's case. The main opposition party, which has long been at loggerheads with the prosecution, exp
Dec. 8, 2024
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Fury and frustration at failed impeachment spread overseas
The motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol failed in the National Assembly on Saturday, as all but three of the 108 members of the ruling People’s Power Party, abstained from voting. The decision sparked widespread fury and frustration among overseas Koreans, who have directed their anger at the ruling party. “I feel profound sadness,” Sun-ju Bully-Noh, who teaches Korean at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France. "I cannot understand why opinions are so divided in
Dec. 7, 2024
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Ruling Party floor leader offers to resign
Ruling People Power Party Rep. Choo Kyung-ho announced Saturday to step down from his position as the party's floor leader. The announcement came, during a general meeting of ruling party lawmakers, after the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol was scrapped following its failure to pass the Assembly. The impeachment motion required the backing of at least two-thirds of the 300-member Assembly to pass. Choo was among 105 People Power Party lawmakers who boycotted the vote by e
Dec. 7, 2024
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[From the Scene] How Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment bill failed
The National Assembly vote on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol was left open for hours on Saturday, as 300 members of the parliament gathered for a rare weekend plenary session. The bill to impeach Yoon was put to vote four days after South Korea watched in shock as armed soldiers broke into the Assembly grounds late Tuesday, about an hour after the president declared martial law. In order to pass, the Democratic Party of Korea-led bill needed just eight votes from the ruling People Po
Dec. 7, 2024
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Chronology of events leading to scrapped impeachment vote
The National Assembly on Saturday failed to vote on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol as all but three People Power Party legislators boycotted the vote. Voting came to a close at 9:20 p.m. with the motion automatically rejected, as the number of lawmakers who cast ballots did not reach the quorum of 200. Passing a presidential impeachment motion requires the approval of at least two-thirds of all sitting lawmakers, equivalent to 200 votes. The failed attempt to impeach Yoon came four d
Dec. 7, 2024