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A screen shows footage of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivering an address to the nation at Seoul Station on December 7, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.
Chung Sung-jun | Getty Images News | Getty Images
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted on Saturday in a vote triggered by a failed attempt to impose martial law in early December.
Presidential elections must be held within 60 days if the incumbent is removed from office or leaves office.
A previous impeachment motion on December 7 he failed to win 200 of the 300 votes in South Korea’s National Assembly, after Yoon’s People Power Party ally lawmakers left before a show of hands. Since then, the tide has shifted, with PPP leader Han Dong-hoon on Thursday expressing his support behind a parliamentary vote to impeach Yoon and calling for an ethics commission to discuss his departure from the party. According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
The motion was pushed by opposition lawmakers after Yoon briefly imposed martial law on Dec. 3 for the first time since a 1979 military coup, citing the need to “protect the constitutional order based on freedom and eliminate the disgraceful anti-North Korean state.” groups, who are stealing the freedom and happiness of our people,” According to NBC News. The measure, which was withdrawn within six hours, raised doubts about the possibility of Yoon trying to impose martial law a second time across the country.
The president has faced a flurry of scandals — several involving his wife, businesswoman Kim Keon Hee — since taking office for a single term in 2022. It has dropped to 17.3% In the days following the Dec. 3 incident, Yoon, who initially said he had placed his fate in the hands of his party, resisted strong calls to side with opposition lawmakers and peaceful protesters. It has been forbidden from leaving the country.
Yoon is not the first South Korean president to face an impeachment vote since the turn of the century, as Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye were ousted in 2004 and 2016 respectively as a result of such proceedings.
On Thursday, Yoon gave a lengthy national speech, pledging to “fight to the end” and “stand firm.” According to NBC News.
“The opposition parties are going crazy today, saying that the declaration of martial law is rebellion,” Yoon said. “Is what they say true?”
The political turmoil roiled markets and raised concerns about the democratic stability of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, but John Woods, chief investment officer at Lombard Odier, said South Korea watchers were “looking at this crisis” and refocusing on local earnings. .
“I definitely think there’s an endgame in sight, and it’s definitely going to be played in the first quarter of next year or so,” Woods told CNBC’s Tanvir Gill on Thursday. “This volatility around the political backdrop is something we have to take very seriously. But certainly, the broad value of (South) Korea as a proxy AI is also something we can’t overlook.”
Technology, chips and the booming AI industry play a central role in South Korea’s economy, the International Monetary Fund said. predictions It will increase by 2.5% this year.
