South Korea’s impeached president is removed from office, four months after declaring martial law
- Wonjeong Hong
- Apr 13
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 23
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Article Summary
South Korea’s highest court decided to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after he briefly declared martial law, declaring his action as “grave betrayal of the people’s trust.”. His delecarion of martial law was a shocking, and almost traumatic generation taht dredged up the memories of South Korea’s past authoritarian government.
He will immediately leave his office and an election to replace him will be triggered. It is interesting considering how Yoon Suk Yeol was a prosecutor before his political career who palyed priminent role in imprisoning another president years ago.
The decision was unanimously agreed by the Constitutional Court’s eight judges. The head judge, Moon Hyung Bae pointed how chaotic night of December 3 where the president and parliament commanded to drag out the law makers using troops and military power, emphasizing how those actions can’t be justified and was unconstitutional.
In this January, Yoon was arrested on charges of leading an insurrectiion in a criminal trial and released in March after the court canceled his arrest. Yoon expressed gratitude to his supporters about how it was an honor to serve as a leader, accepted the court’s decision expressing how he is sorry for not being able to met the expectation.
After the Friday’s ruling, there were mixed opinions in Suth Korea. While Yoon’s opponents exploded in happiness and celebration for finally achieving the justice that they have fought over for months, his conservative supporters mourned and outraged abou the decision. It was a decision that has greatly divided the nation.
Reflection
It is unexpected to witness the president of my country getting impeached twice, and the fact that they are from the same political parties is even more ironic. As a citizen, I know it is the right thing, but as an individual, it is sad to see—not because I disagree with the impeachment itself but because of the political turmoil and instability that my home country is currently undergoing.
December 3, 2024, was an odd day. I was hanging out with friends in the dorm common room while everything was happening. My Korean friends rushed and sent me full-text messages saying President Yoon Suk Yeol had declared martial law, not even in the morning but at dawn when everyone was asleep. I was extremely confused by the overall situation and worried about my family and friends in Korea. What I could do was text my friends through Instagram, watch the news, and scroll down social media to follow up with what was happening. It was during the end of the science class to find out that President Yoon finally rescinded martial law. The fact that the martial law did not even last for 24 hours was hilarious.
Martial law is a big concept in Korea because it brings back the generational trauma that Korean people had to experience in the 20th century under the military regimes and dictatorship ruled by several presidents such as Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-whan, and Roh Tae-woo for about thirty-four years and two months. For the last few years, presidents and politicians strived to recover democracy and to heal this painful memory where people who participated in the protests were ruthlessly massacred no matter their age. The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye was a symbolic moment in Korean politics when hard work and efforts throughout the years finally succeeded in establishing and blooming a well-functioning democracy in Korean society.
However, President Yoon’s declaration of martial law was the choice to swim against this current. The sense of crisis that neglecting this situation can repeat the hurtful history rallied people with different age groups and socioeconomic statuses to fight and protest against the government, and so did the other party. President Yoon’s supporters of the conservative party, who felt guilt and regret that they failed to protect the Former President, Park Geun-hye, and believed the electoral fraud of the Democratic Party, also gathered in front of the Presidential Residence and asserted the innocence of President Yoon. The whole nation was politically divided,
After the official court decision to impeach the president was announced, cheers of joy and celebration filled the air on one side, while the tears and mourning sounds covered the other side. I personally think the impeachment was the right decision because the declaration of martial law without specific reason and justification is an apparent cause of punishment and impeachment. Now, people’s attention is centered on one question: Who will be the next president of South Korea? As the entire situation was out of the blue and rushing, people were unprepared right now, and things were uncertain. Although there are still some candidates, they are also very controversial by their own personal scandals and legal issues. Apart from anything, the next president should be somebody who can normalize the administrative and political system muddled and jumbled by confusion and bring societal order and harmony. Also, one thing that became clearer in this situation was that Korea’s democracy is alive. We all know that if the order of the society and political system gets threatened by successive regimes, the Korean people will not stay silent; they will rise and protect the system they believe in again and again.
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