On December 5, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol approved the resignation of Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, a move that came in response to the fallout from his short-lived declaration of martial law. The move comes as opposition parties increase calls for the immediate resignations of Yoon and Kim.
The martial law, promptly rejected by the National Assembly, has been enough for major opposition parties to submit motions of impeachment against both Yoon and Kim, whom they say was an important enabler in advising the president to apply the emergency law.
Following Kim’s resignation, Choi Byung Hyuk, a former military general and South Korea’s top envoy to Saudi Arabia, was appointed as the new defence minister. The presidential office announced the change without further comment, and Yoon has not made a public appearance since the martial law was imposed and subsequently withdrawn in a televised address.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kim apologized for the incident and tendered his resignation for the disruption caused. He said, “All troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me.”
The motion for Yoon’s impeachment is scheduled to be put before lawmakers between Friday and Sunday. The conservative opposition, PPP, said it will urge all its MPs to vote against the impeachment motion. PPP legislators, according to analysts, might boycott the vote or simply vote against the proposal.
Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in South Korea’s 300-member parliament, where opposition parties including the Democratic Party hold 192 seats. According to National Assembly officials, at least 10 PPP members voted against the martial law-which may mean that as many as 10 of them could vote for his impeachment.
Impeachment would immediately strip Yoon of his constitutional powers, leaving him at the mercy of a court for his future. In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over the government.
