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Korea’s opposition parties submitted on Wednesday a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over the shocking and short-lived martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order.
Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court would have to support it to remove him from office.
The motion, submitted jointly by the main opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday.
“The parliament should focus on immediately suspending the president’s business to pass an impeachment bill soonest,” Hwang Un-ha, one of the members of parliament in the coalition, told reporters.
Ruling People Power Party chair Han Dong-hun also demanded that Yoon explain his decision, fire Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who he said recommended the martial law decree to Yoon, and for the entire Cabinet to resign.
South Korean media reported that presidential advisers and secretaries for Yoon offered to resign and Yoon also put off his official schedule on Wednesday morning.
“President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration was a clear violation of the Constitution. It didn’t abide by any requirements to declare it,” the Democratic Party said in a statement. “His martial law declaration was originally invalid and a grave violation of the Constitution. It was a grave act of rebellion and provides perfect grounds for his impeachment.”
“Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down,” senior Democratic Party member of parliament Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
Impeaching him would require support from 200 of the 300 members of parliament.
