Thursday 05/December/2024 – 05:55 AM
In light of rapid political developments in South Korea, a proposal to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over his declaration of martial law was submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday, a parliamentary measure that paves the way for a vote on the proposal this week.
The leader of the country’s ruling party pledged Thursday to confront the opposition’s attempt to impeach President Yoon, and Han Dong-hoon, head of the People Power Party, said, addressing members of his party during a meeting whose proceedings were broadcast live, “We will strive to prevent the adoption of this impeachment (proposal).”
“I asked for the president to leave the party,” Han added, stressing that his party “is not trying to defend the unconstitutional martial law imposed by the president.”
The presidential office in Seoul announced Thursday that Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun submitted his resignation to President Yoon, who accepted it and appointed the country’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia in his place.
The South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported that a proposal to impeach President Yoon over his declaration of martial law was submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday, a parliamentary measure that paves the way for a vote on the proposal this week.
The proposal was presented by 190 opposition party MPs and one independent MP and it was submitted to the plenary session at 12:48 early this morning.
According to the law, the proposal must be put to a vote within a period of 24 to 72 hours after it is submitted to a public session.
In the proposal, opposition lawmakers said that Yoon’s declaration of martial law constitutes a violation of the constitution and other laws related to the principles of people’s sovereignty and separation of powers.
They also asserted that the martial law decree violates freedom of expression because it places all media and publishing under the control of the martial law leadership and prohibits strikes and protests.
The opposition parties plan to hold a vote on the proposal as soon as possible.
The proposal requires the approval of two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly.
Out of 300 members of the National Assembly, the opposition will need eight votes from the ruling People’s Power Party to pass the proposal, as the number of opposition representatives, including National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik and future Representative Kim Jong-min, is 192.
However, the ruling People Power Party decided to vote against the proposal.
If the motion passes, Yoon’s presidential powers will be suspended immediately.
