South Korea's Constitutional Court rejects impeachment demand for PM
Photo: Han Duck-Soo (flickr.com)
On Monday, the Constitutional Court of South Korea reviewed the issue of impeachment of the country's Prime Minister. This came a few months after the ousted President, Yoon Suk Yeol, imposed a short-term martial law, according to Yonhap.
Following the case review, the court sided with Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo, overturning the impeachment and reinstating him as acting president.
The impeachment of Han was rejected by the court with a 5-to-1 vote among eight judges. Two judges voted for the complete dismissal of the impeachment request.
The decision was made three months after the National Assembly (parliament) declared the impeachment of the acting president due to his alleged role in imposing martial law on December 3, as well as other reasons.
Background
On December 3, the then-President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, imposed martial law in the country. However, this decision was not due to a military threat but rather political motives.
A few hours later, the South Korean parliament convened and passed a resolution calling for the cancellation of martial law. The document effectively required the president to revoke his decree. Furthermore, about a week and a half later, parliament voted to impeach the president, during which time searches were conducted at his residence.
As the situation unfolded, the president failed to appear for questioning, but on December 15, law enforcement managed to arrest him despite his being at his residence and under protection.
At the end of February, South Korean parliament lawyers referred to Yoon Suk Yeol as a dictator. This statement was made during a court process regarding the removal of the president for attempting to impose martial law.
