Ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will get one last chance to defend himself before judges who are wrapping up a trial to decide whether he should be permanently removed from office for his ill-fated declaration of martial law.
Yoon is due to make his final arguments at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday afternoon, wrapping up a six-week trial over whether he violated the constitution by declaring martial law. The judges will then have to decide whether to uphold parliament’s decision to impeach him, made in December.
“The president is preparing his final testimony,” one of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kab-keun, told reporters in a text message on Sunday. If the court upholds the parliament’s motion, Yoon will be immediately removed from power, triggering a presidential election within 60 days. If the motion is rejected, however, Yoon will be reinstated as president, but his legal travails are far from over as the president faces a separate criminal case on sedition charges.
In past cases of presidential impeachment, the court has delivered its verdict within two weeks of the conclusion of hearings.
Yoon’s power crisis
South Korea is in the midst of its biggest political crisis in decades after President Yoon abruptly declared martial law. He delivered a televised address on December 3, saying the move was necessary to protect the country from threats from North Korea and “anti-state forces.” The president also accused the opposition of paralysing the work of the state through impeachment initiatives and budget revisions.
In South Korea, the imposition of martial law includes banning political parties, censoring the media and handing control of all government functions to a military command. The military immediately occupied key government buildings, including the National Assembly.
Yoon, who became president in 2022, has long faced low popularity (around 20 per cent). His electoral victory was minimal, with a margin of only a few per cent, and the April 2024 parliamentary elections resulted in the defeat of his People Power party. The opposition thus captured almost two-thirds of the seats in parliament, which significantly limited the head of state’s opportunities: due to insufficient support, he cannot promote his bills.
The situation has been aggravated by public discontent due to growing social inequality, economic instability and accusations of lack of competence in foreign policy, especially in relations with North Korea. In addition, a recent scandal involving his wife, who has been accused of corruption and stock manipulation, has also erupted.
With the opposition-controlled parliament blocking Yoon’s bills and Yoon himself in turn vetoing parliamentary initiatives, tensions have reached a peak.
The tipping point was the opposition’s recent blocking of the government’s budget bill, which derailed important Yoon initiatives. In addition, the opposition has since initiated impeachment proceedings against several members of his cabinet, including the head of the audit body who refused to investigate his wife’s corruption case.
