South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was stripped of his constitutional powers in an unprecedented impeachment vote yesterday that rattled an embattled government already struggling to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis and reboot a struggling economic recovery.
The vote came after hours of scuffles and protests that included one Roh supporter setting himself on fire and another man trying to drive his car up the parliament steps and into the building.
After the decision, South Korea's main stock index tumbled 5 percent, and the nation's military and police forces were set on heightened vigilance. Among Roh's suspended duties was his role as commander in chief.
The pro-Roh Uri Party, which had tried to physically block the vote by commandeering the National Assembly podium from which votes are called, announced that its 47 lawmakers would resign en masse to protest.
The vote marked a spectacular setback for the 57-year-old, self-made human rights lawyer who came to office last February on a populist ticket that promised South Koreans better relations with the North and a more equal footing with the country's biggest ally, the US.
His 13-month tenure was dogged by corruption scandals. But yesterday's vote was a crowning embarrassment for the feisty, independent leader. It was the first time South Korea's parliament has impeached a president.
The matter now goes to the Constitutional Court, which has 180 days to approve or reject Roh's ouster.
In a three-line statement issued by Roh's presidential office, the administration said it would subject itself to "the judgment of history and the people" and hoped that the Constitutional Court "will make a quick decision to minimize confusion in state affairs."
Chief Justice Yoon Young-chul could not say when hearings would begin. But he called the impeachment "a matter of grave consequence" and pledged to handle it "in a speedy and precise manner."
Prime Minister Goh Kun, who formally assumed Roh's duties yesterday, instructed the Defense Ministry to heighten its military vigilance along the heavily fortified inter-Korean border.
Tensions are running high amid the deepening international standoff over the North's nuclear weapons development, but the ministry said yesterday it detected no unusual North Korean military movements.
"The people feel unease because the impeachment bill was passed at a time that the economy faces difficulties," Goh said. "The Cabinet and all government officials must do all they can to stabilize the people's lives and ensure that the country's international credibility will not be damaged."
Goh also issued a statement saying it was "deplorable that this kind of incident has happened" and that he "cannot but feel sorry to the nation that the situation has reached the point it has."
The opposition Grand National and Millennium Democratic parties cited three main reasons for the impeachment: Roh's violation of election laws, corruption scandals surrounding former aides and his alleged mismanagement of the economy.
Finance and Economy Minister Lee Hun-jai tried to reassure: "This crisis doesn't mean there is a problem with our economy. We have so far established an economic system that is resistant toward political upheavals."
Roh has yet to apologize for the flash point of the impeachment attempt: accusations that he broke election laws by stumping for the Uri Party in the April 15 parliamentary campaign.
Roh does not belong to the Uri party, but has said he wants to join. The National Elections Commission ruled last week that Roh had engaged in illegal electioneering, but that the infraction was minor, not warranting criminal charges.
Political analysts said policy may now take a back seat to politics in next month's election.
"I worry the nation may split into pro-impeachment and anti-impeachment factions," said Lee Jung-hee, a politics professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.
"Dreams of a policy competition may be washed away," he said.
Even before the impeachment, Roh's credibility had been undermined by corruption scandals within his administration. Last December, three former Roh aides were indicted on charges of collecting illicit funds from Samsung, LG and other big businesses for the December 2002 presidential campaign.
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS