Every step in the impeachment process threatens to brew a new round of turmoil in South Korean politics.
▲Data map: On May 10, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol attended the presidential swearing-in ceremony. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Text | Xu Lifan
According to a report by the global network citing South Korean media on June 26, the "National Consent Petition" urging the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been submitted to the Legislative and Judicial Committee of the South Korean National Assembly.
The petitioner, titled "Immediate Petition for Yoon Suk-yeol's Impeachment," said, said, "After Yoon Suk-yeol took office, South Korea's economy, security, diplomacy, people's livelihood, and democracy have collapsed completely." Yoon Suk-yeol, who was harshly judged by the people in the parliamentary election, did not change the tone of the country's politics." As a result, "the grounds for impeachment [against] President Yoon are so abundant that the 22nd National Assembly should immediately file an impeachment case." ”
Under the Korean National Consent Petition System, petitions from more than 50,000 nationals are submitted to the National Assembly's Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee. According to the South Korean National Assembly on June 26, the petition to impeach Yoon Suk-yeol was uploaded online on the 20th, and it exceeded the standard line of 50,000 people in just six days. As of 17:30 on the 26th, the relevant petition had been agreed to by 205,000 people. Accordingly, in accordance with the procedure, the petition was submitted to the Judicial Affairs Commission.
Since Yoon Suk-yeol took office, South Korea's opposition parties and people have launched more than one protest urging him to step down, but only this time has it possible to enter the formal impeachment process. Can Yoon Suk-yeol get out of the crisis?
Congressional Attorneys are not controlled by the ruling party
There are 18 standing committees in the National Assembly, and the chairmen of these standing committees are distributed according to the strength of the political parties in the National Assembly.
On April 11 this year, the results of the 22nd National Assembly election of South Korea were released, and Yoon Suk-yeol's ruling party, the People's Power Party, was defeated. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPK) maintained its position as the largest party in the Diet and extended its lead in the Diet with its satellite parties.
In addition, the Fatherland Renewal Party, led by former Justice Minister Cho Kook, has become the third-largest party in the National Assembly, and the party is also a stalwn against Yoon Suk-yeol. However, because the Democratic Party of Korea and its allies failed to win 200 seats, or two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly, Yoon was able to escape impeachment and remove from power.
After the National Assembly elections, the parties fought over control of the Standing Committee, with the Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee being the top priority of the DPK. It was not until June 24 that the KMT had to accept the chairmanship of the seven standing committees that had been removed from the opposition party.
At present, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) holds the majority in the Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee, and Chung Cheong-rae, a member of the DPK's National Assembly, is a fierce general.
On June 25, when the committee was discussing the amendment to the Broadcasting Law, Chung Ching-rae got into a scuffle with a KMT lawmaker, asking what the KMT lawmaker's name was. When the KMT lawmakers deliberately used the phrase "Respected Chairman Chung Cheong-rae," Chung Ching-rae countered: "Don't use the word respect without respect, this kind of remark is scandalous."
It is foreseeable that after the petition to impeach Yoon Suk-yeol is submitted to the Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee, the Democratic Party lawmakers will do their best to submit the petition to the plenary session of the National Assembly for discussion.
▲This is the exterior view of the National Assembly Building of South Korea taken in Seoul, South Korea on April 10. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
There are still two levels left before the official impeachment
According to the procedure, after the petition for impeachment of the President is submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly, if a majority of the members of the National Assembly propose it and more than two-thirds of the members of the National Assembly agree, the impeachment process is officially initiated. The impeached person can continue to exercise his or her powers until the impeachment case is sent to the Constitutional Court of South Korea for final hearing. South Korea's Constitutional Court has nine judges, and if the six-member standard is met, the impeached person must step down.
In other words, whether Yoon Suk-yeol will really be impeached or not, there are two steps to go in the plenary session of the National Assembly and the constitutional trial.
Of the 300 seats currently in the National Assembly, the opposition Democratic Party and its satellite Democratic Unification Party hold a total of 174 seats, while Cho's Fatherland Reform Party holds 12 seats. These 186 seats are the backbone of opposition to Yoon Suk-yeol. Therefore, there is no suspense in proposing the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol in the National Assembly, and the key is whether two-thirds of the lawmakers can agree to impeach. At this point, it will be crucial whether the National Power Party and its satellite parties will have MPs who will oppose the water.
It is not uncommon for ruling party lawmakers to oppose the president. In December 2016, Park Geun-hye was impeached by the National Assembly, and more than 20 members of the same party turned against her, and as a result, Park Geun-hye's impeachment case was approved by 234 members, and then eight judges of the South Korean Constitutional Court agreed to pass the impeachment, and Park Geun-hye was immediately removed from the presidency, becoming the first president to be impeached in South Korea's constitutional history.
The Park Geun-hye corruption case was immediately initiated, and it was Yoon Suk-yeol, then head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who handled the case.
Whether Park Geun-hye's history will be reproduced and whether it can ensure that the KMT lawmakers will not oppose the water is the first step. And when it comes to the ruling of the Constitutional Court of South Korea, there are also variables. The impeachment petition's accusations against Yoon Suk-yeol are too broad and there are no specific cases of impeachment of Park Geun-hye, so it may be difficult for South Korea's Constitutional Court to accept them.
South Korea's Constitutional Court has heard two presidential impeachment cases in the past, with Roh Moo-hyun's impeachment case being dismissed and Park Geun-hye's impeachment case passed. The key to this is whether the congressional charges provide strong evidence.
▲On April 10, in Seoul, South Korea, Lee Jae-myung (front row, center), leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the largest opposition party in South Korea, celebrated with the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea the results of the exit poll. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Successful impeachment will lead to new battles
For now, the conditions for impeaching Yoon Suk-yeol are not sufficient. But the bigger problem is that every step in the impeachment process could create a new round of turmoil in South Korean politics.
For the ruling party, the impeachment petition appeared just after the seats on the Standing Committee of the National Assembly were allocated and the National Assembly resumed normal operation, which is a political conspiracy to bring down Yoon Suk-yeol completely, and it is bound to fight back.
As far as the opposition parties are concerned, the resignation of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to re-run in the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leadership election in August, is something that the "non-Ming faction" within the party may not accept. These people have long held Lee Jae-myung accountable for not winning 200 seats in the Democratic Party (DPP) election in April. If it wants to make a concerted effort to impeach Yoon, the Democratic Party of Korea needs to be further integrated.
Regardless of how far the impeachment of Yoon goes, the matter could trigger a new round of fighting in South Korean politics. Although the focus of social attention such as the Itaewon stampede in Seoul in 2022, the investigation into the death of Marine Corps Private Chae so Geun in 2023, and the incident of Yoon Suk-yeol's wife Kim Keon-hee accepting a brand-name bag have gradually subsided, new incidents and fierce news are likely to explode again during the impeachment period.
Yoon Suk-yeol was originally the first president since 1987 to have to face the pattern of "small and large" during his five-year presidential term. It remains to be seen how he will move in the face of the new impeachment offensive.
Written by Xu Lifan (Columnist)
Editor / Chi Daohua
Proofreading / Zhao Lin
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