A SOUTH Korean marine veteran gets his head shaved during a rally outside President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office demanding his removal from power.—Reuters
A SOUTH Korean marine veteran gets his head shaved during a rally outside President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office demanding his removal from power.—Reuters

SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol clung to power on Thursday, with his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law stunned the world.

Yoon suspended civilian rule late Tuesday and deployed troops and helicopters to parliament only for lawmakers to vote down the measure and force him into a U-turn in a night of protests and drama.

Seoul’s allies were alarmed — Washington said it found out via television — and the opposition quickly filed an impeachment motion saying Yoon “gravely violated the constitution and the law”. A vote is set for Saturday at around 7pm.

The opposition holds a large majority in the 300-member legislature and requires only a handful of defections from Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) to secure the two-thirds majority needed for impeachment. But on Thursday, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said that while he had demanded Yoon leave the party over his “unconstitutional martial law”, he would block the impeachment motion.

“All 108 lawmakers of the People Power Party will stay united to reject the president’s impeachment,” party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said.

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung told Bloomberg that deposing Yoon could still be a challenge.

The situation remains in a “state of flux”, Lee said. According to a poll issued on Thursday by Realmeter, 73.6 per cent of respondents supported the impeachment.

Thousands of protesters continued to rally in central Seoul and near the parliament on Thursday evening demanding the president step down.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

A year later
Updated 08 Feb, 2025

A year later

A war of egos has been fought between a handful of individuals at the cost of the well-being of millions of ordinary Pakistanis.
Wheat decision
08 Feb, 2025

Wheat decision

THE federal decision to stop setting the minimum support price for wheat and cease the staple’s procurement...
Dhanmondi attack
08 Feb, 2025

Dhanmondi attack

HISTORY has shown that unless states deliver development and equal rights to all, disenfranchised people can target...
Depopulating Gaza
Updated 07 Feb, 2025

Depopulating Gaza

The least feasible "solution" is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter.
‘Pause’ in US aid
07 Feb, 2025

‘Pause’ in US aid

THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those...
Mobilising opposition
07 Feb, 2025

Mobilising opposition

POLITICS makes strange bedfellows. There has not, for quite some time, been a guest list as intriguing as the one...