South Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, yesterday moved to reassure the country’s allies and calm financial markets a day after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached and suspended from his duties over a martial law attempt.
Han spoke with US President Joe Biden by telephone, the White House and Han’s office said.
“South Korea will carry out its foreign and security policies without disruption and strive to ensure the South Korea-US alliance is maintained and developed steadfastly,” Han said in a statement.
Photo: AP
In a further attempt to stabilize the nation’s leadership, the main opposition party announced it would not seek to impeach Han for his involvement in Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law decision.
“Given that the prime minister has already been confirmed as acting president and considering that excessive impeachments could lead to confusion in national governance, we have decided not to proceed with impeachment procedures,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung told reporters.
Prosecutors said Yoon yesterday morning did not appear in response to a summons for questioning in a criminal investigation into his martial law decision, and they promised to issue another order, Yonhap news agency reported.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Yonhap News Agency
Yoon and a number of senior officials face potential charges of insurrection, abuse of authority and obstructing people from exercising their rights.
Han, picked by Yoon as prime minister, was elevated to acting president in accordance with the constitution while Yoon’s case moves to the Constitutional Court.
Lee urged the court to rule swiftly on Yoon’s impeachment and proposed a special council for policy cooperation between the government and parliament.
Yoon’s powers have been suspended until the court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. If he is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
Lee, who is seen as the frontrunner to replace Yoon, told a televised news conference that a swift court ruling would be the only way to “minimize national confusion and the suffering of people.”
The court is today to meet to discuss the case, and has up to 180 days to rule, but observers say that a court ruling could come sooner.
In the case of parliamentary impeachments of previous presidents — Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2016 — the court spent 63 days and 91 days respectively before determining to reinstate Roh and dismiss Park.
Demonstrators seeking Yoon’s ouster braved the cold to throng the streets outside the South Korean National Assembly Proceeding Hall where he was impeached.
The crowd was about 200,000, Yonhap reported, citing police.
As Han’s role is only acting president, “I hope he will exercise the minimum power to operate the country stably, rather than actively be involved in state affairs,” said Jo Sung-woo, a 39-year-old Seoul resident.
Additional reporting by AP
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