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South Korean president replaces defense minister as parliament nears vote on impeaching both
SEOUL — South Korea’s president replaced his defense minister Thursday as opposition parties moved to impeach both men over the stunning but short-lived imposition of martial law that brought armed troops into the streets of Seoul.
The main opposition Democratic Party and smaller opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night. Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.
On Thursday, Yoon’s office said he had decided to replace Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun with Choi Byung-hyuk, a retired four-star general who is South Korea’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Yoon’s office didn’t comment further about the change atop the Defense Ministry. The president hasn’t appeared in public since he announced in a televised address that his government was lifting the martial law declaration.
The opposition parties earlier submitted a separate motion to impeach Kim, alleging he recommended that Yoon impose martial law. Kim had offered to resign and apologized for causing disruption and concern among the public. He said that “all troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me,” according to the Defense Ministry.
Jo Seoung-lae, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said it will push for a National Assembly vote on the impeachment motion on Saturday evening, to provide sufficient time for the conservative lawmakers to contemplate their decisions on what he described as an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.”
On Thursday, the Democrats and other opposition lawmakers voted to impeach Choi Jae-hae, chairman of the country’s board of audit and inspection, and three top public prosecutors, including Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Chang-soo. The four will be suspended from their duties until the Constitutional Court rules whether to remove them from office. Members of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party boycotted the votes, resulting in overwhelming majorities voting to impeach them.
The Democratic Party’s continued impeachment attempts of senior government officials and prosecutors have been a major source of conflict with Yoon, who during his martial law announcement accused the opposition of “anti-state activities” and “paralyzing the government.”
Prospects for Yoon’s impeachment aren’t clear, as his ruling People Power Party decided Thursday to oppose the motion’s passage. Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the party, told reporters that it would hold another meeting to determine how to oppose the motion’s passage. Observers say party members could simply boycott a floor vote or cast ballots against the motion.
Impeaching Yoon would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties together have 192 seats, so they need additional votes from the ruling party. Some experts believe the motion would probably pass, as 18 lawmakers from an anti-Yoon faction within the People Power Party joined with opposition lawmakers to vote down his martial law decree.
But speaking to reporters Thursday, People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun, head of the anti-Yoon faction, said he would work to ensure that the impeachment motion doesn’t pass, though he remains critical of the president’s action, which he described as “unconstitutional.” Han said that there is a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”
Experts say rival factions in the ruling party could unite to avoid repeating their traumatic experiences after the 2016 impeachment of scandal-ridden conservative President Park Geun-hye, which happened after some lawmakers in her party voted to impeach her. Park was eventually removed from office and arrested in 2017, and the liberals easily won the presidency in a by-election as conservatives remained in disarray.
If Yoon is impeached, he will be deprived of his constitutional powers until the Constitutional Court rules. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who holds the No. 2 position in the South Korean government, would take over presidential responsibilities.
The impeachment motion accuses Yoon of attempting a “self-coup” by mobilizing the military. It also says Yoon’s declaration failed to meet the constitutional requirements that such steps be considered only in severe crises. The motion also argues that his move to declare a suspension of political party activities and deploy troops in an attempt to seal the National Assembly amounted to rebellion.
During a parliamentary hearing Thursday, Kim Seon-ho, the vice defense minister and acting defense chief, said he wasn’t informed about Yoon’s decision to impose martial law until the announcement was reported by the media.
He said he didn’t know who wrote the military proclamation announced after Yoon’s martial law declaration, which stated that the activities of political parties would be suspended, but said it didn’t come from the Defense Ministry. He said the decision to deploy troops to the National Assembly came from the former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun.
“I had fundamentally opposed the deployment of troops over this martial law and I expressed a negative opinion about it,” said Kim Seon-ho, without elaborating. “I would like to apologize to our citizens once again, and, on a personal level, I feel devastated.”
Yoon’s martial law declaration harked back to South Korea’s military-backed governments when martial law and other decrees were proclaimed that allowed them to station soldiers and tanks on streets to prevent anti-government demonstrations. Until Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, such scenes of military intervention had not been seen since South Korea became a democracy in the late 1980s.
It wasn’t clear how the 190 lawmakers were able to enter the National Assembly to vote down Yoon’s martial law decree while soldiers in full battle gear encircled the building. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik were seen climbing over walls. Troops and police officers blocked some lawmakers from entering but didn’t aggressively restrain or use force against others.
