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

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

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

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

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

Conflict erupts over ruling camp's takeover plan

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 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 would cooperate in operational matters related to "national governance." They did a

Dec. 8, 2024

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

Can Yoon 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

[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

[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

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

[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

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

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

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

[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

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

Uncertainty looms over Yoon's plans to delegate power to party

President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement Saturday that he would let the ruling party manage state affairs, and the subsequent failure of the impeachment motion, might have brought a sigh of relief from the ruling bloc. But widespread disruption will likely follow, as the Yoon administration and the National Assembly have already become dysfunctional. Key policy initiatives, such as Yoon's efforts to address social polarization and tackle the population crisis, now appear increasingly imp

Dec. 7, 2024

Who are the ruling party lawmakers who voted on Yoon's impeachment?

In a dramatic turn of events during the Dec. 7 National Assembly vote on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment motion, all but one member of the ruling People Power Party vacated the chamber in a boycott. The motion is likely to fail to pass due to a lack of quorum. Only Ahn Cheol-soo remained among the ruling party members to cast a vote. However, two more lawmakers from the ruling party -- Kim Yea-ji, and Kim Sang-wook -- chose to return and cast their votes. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a three-

Dec. 7, 2024

Motion to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol scrapped

The motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for his declaration of martial law earlier this week was scrapped Saturday, after his ruling party defended the embattled leader by refusing to vote. Even if Yoon has officially avoided impeachment, political turmoil is projected to continue, with the main opposition pledging to repeatedly submit impeachment motions until Yoon is suspended. The motion was defeated in Saturday's plenary session, after failing to secure the required two-thirds maj

Dec. 7, 2024