Banners outside the National Assembly building call for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Dec. 5, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s parliament in Seoul is scheduled to vote Saturday on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his failed, six-hour attempt to impose martial law on the country this week.
The National Assembly early Thursday approved a motion to impeach Yoon, setting the stage for a final vote at 7 p.m. Saturday. Votes must be cast within 24 to 72 hours of the motion’s approval.
Impeaching Yoon requires 200 votes from the 300-member assembly. The ruling People Power Party holds 108 seats in parliament; the main opposition Democratic Party and third parties have a combined 192 seats.
South Koreans protest President Yoon Suk Yeol outside his office in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 5, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
South Koreans protest President Yoon Suk Yeol outside his office in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 5, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
The parliament’s early-morning session Thursday came hours after National Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun submitted his resignation over the martial law declaration.
Kim, in a statement Wednesday, said he was “responsible for causing confusion and concern to the public.” The soldiers who stormed the National Assembly building late Tuesday and early Wednesday were merely performing their duties, he said.
“All responsibility lies with me,” Kim said.
Kim in August replaced Shin Won-sik at the Ministry of National Defense after Shin became Yoon’s national security adviser.
Yoon accepted Kim’s resignation and appointed retired four-star army Gen. Choi Byung Hyuk, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as the new defense minister.
Other members of Yoon’s Cabinet have offered to resign since the martial law declaration, including Shin and chief of staff Chung Jin-suk.
Yoon declared martial law during a televised address Tuesday night, accusing the Democratic Party of railroading budget bills and knee-capping his administration with 22 impeachment filings against government officials, including chairman Choe Jae-hae of the Board of Audit and Inspection, Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office chief Lee Chang-soo and two prosecutors.
The impeachment motions against Choe and the three prosecutors passed in the National Assembly after a vote Thursday afternoon.
U.S. military officials and diplomats expressed relief on Yoon lifting martial law and said they were continuing to monitor the situation.
“We were concerned about the events of last night,” U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg said Wednesday during an interview with Yonhap News. “At the same time, we’re encouraged by the resilience of Korean democracy.”
U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for the 28,500 American troops on the peninsula, on Wednesday released a statement from its commander, Army Gen. Paul LaCamera.
He advised service members, civilian employees and family members to “exercise individual vigilance about where, how, when, and with whom you will travel throughout Korea.”
“The events of last night are not over as the government of the [South Korea] is working through their democratic processes to address the concerns of its citizens and resolve their disagreements in accordance with the rule of law,” LaCamera wrote. “We are guests in [South Korea], and I ask all individuals affiliated with the Department of Defense mission to give time and space to our host country and its citizens, as they work to resolve their differences.”
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul, in an alert on its website Wednesday, said the “situation remains fluid” and recommended citizens avoid places where demonstrations are being held.
