On December 8, 2024, outside the National Assembly in Seoul, a protester held a piece of cardboard with the words “Rebel Leader” and the face of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol printed on it, participating in a protest calling for his resignation.
Fang Philips | AFP | Getty Images
Acting President of South Korea, Han Dezhu, The move on Sunday reassured the country’s allies and calmed financial markets a day after the president’s term ended. Yin Xiyeol was Impeach and was suspended for trying to impose martial law.
The White House and Han Kuo-yu’s office said Han Kuo-yu had a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden.
A statement from the South Korean President’s Office said, “South Korea will continue to implement its foreign and security policies and work hard to ensure that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is maintained and stably developed.”
In an effort to further stabilize the Asian country’s leadership, the main opposition party announced it would not seek impeachment of South Korea’s president over his involvement in Yoon’s Dec. 3 decision to impose martial law.
“Given that the prime minister has been confirmed as the acting president and considering that excessive impeachment may lead to chaos in national governance, we have decided not to proceed with impeachment proceedings,” Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung told reporters.
Prosecutors said Yoon did not appear for questioning on Sunday morning in response to a court summons. criminal investigation They accepted his decision to impose martial law and promised to issue another order, Yonhap reported.
Yin and some senior officials may face charges of rebellion, abuse of power and obstruction of people’s exercise of rights.
The prosecutor’s office did not answer calls seeking comment.
Isak Andic, founder and owner of fashion empire Mango, died in a mountain accident on Saturday, police said.
Han, a longtime technocrat who was elected prime minister by conservative Yoon Eun-hye, was elevated to acting president under the constitution while Yoon Eun-hye’s case was moved to the Supreme Court. Constitutional Court.
Demonstrators calling for Yin to step down braved the cold to gather on the street outside the National Assembly building where Yin was impeached. Yonhap News Agency said that according to police, there were about 200,000 people at the scene.
Since the South Korean president’s role is only that of acting president, “I hope he can exercise the minimum power to stabilize the country’s operations rather than actively participate in national affairs,” said Jo Sung-woo, 39, a Seoul resident.
About 8.5 kilometers (5 miles) away, a much smaller number of Yun supporters demonstrated in central Seoul.
Yim Joung-sook, 55, said: “I really can’t bear to see these illegal legislators who were elected through fraudulent elections enacting evil laws and now this huge opposition party is doing its own thing.”
North Korea threat
Yin’s unexpected declaration of martial law and subsequent actions political crisis That alarmed markets and South Korea’s diplomatic partners, concerned about the country’s ability to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.
Han’s office said Biden told Han that the iron-clad U.S.-South Korea alliance has not changed and that Washington will work with Seoul to further develop and strengthen the alliance and trilateral cooperation including neighboring Japan.
The U.S. president “expressed his appreciation for the resilience of South Korea’s democracy and rule of law,” the White House said in a statement, using the abbreviation of South Korea’s official name, “Republic of Korea.”
Shortly after Saturday’s impeachment vote, Han Kuo-yu convened a cabinet meeting and a National Security Council meeting and vowed to maintain military readiness to prevent any violations of national security.
Yonhap News Agency quoted Han Hanyu’s office as saying that he had a phone call with the commander of the US military in South Korea and expressed concerns that North Korea might try military provocations, such as launching ballistic missiles or cyber attacks.
Former New Zealand ambassador to South Korea Philip Turner said South Korea’s partners wanted to see a credible and constitutional interim leadership in place as soon as possible.
“They will be happy to see Prime Minister Han take over as acting president,” he said. “He is capable, experienced and well respected in foreign capitals.”
But even with an acting president in place, international partners face months of uncertainty before a new president is elected and a new government formed, Turner added.
The Constitutional Court has up to six months to decide whether to remove Yin or reinstate him. If he is dismissed or resigns, new elections will be held within 60 days.
economic impact
South Korean stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Friday on hopes that political uncertainty would ease following a parliamentary impeachment vote that failed a week ago.
Democratic Party leader Lee Myung-bak said the most pressing problem is insufficient domestic demand and a decline in consumption caused by the government’s cuts in fiscal functions.
He called for the establishment of a national governance stabilization committee composed of the government and parliament to discuss financial, economic and public livelihood issues.
“There is a need to discuss the supplementary budget immediately,” Lee said, adding that such measures could support small businesses and investments related to artificial intelligence and infrastructure to try to avoid energy shortages.
The National Assembly, controlled by Lee Myung-bak’s party, passed a 673.3 trillion won ($470.6 billion) 2025 budget bill on Tuesday, cutting the government’s 677.4 trillion won proposal but failing to reach an agreement with Yoon’s People Power Party and the government agreement.
By law, Congress cannot increase the government budget, and the Democratic Party said at the time that a supplementary budget might be needed to address people’s livelihood expenditures.
The party said the cuts would mainly go to government reserves, interest costs and confidential business funds allocated to the Blue House, prosecutors and auditors. The government accuses parliament of delaying projects aimed at small businesses through budget cuts.
The impasse over the budget was one of the reasons cited by Yoon for imposing martial law.
South Korea’s financial authorities vowed on Sunday to take action as needed Stabilize the market The finance minister said he would announce an economic policy plan before the end of the year.
