The world is waiting. South Korea’s Constitutional Court is deliberating the currently suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment case, which was triggered by his declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. Its result is expected to be announced soon in March. If the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment motion, South Korea will need to organize a new presidential election within 60 days. As a South Korean myself, I argue that Yoon must be removed from his presidency through the impeachment proceedings. There are several reasons.
Resilience of South Korea’s democracy
But first, it is important to explore the implications of the impeachment process itself.
Most of all, the President’s arrest and ongoing investigation show that democracy is working in South Korea. When he declared martial law illegally, the National Assembly nullified it within several hours. Then lawmakers passed the motion to impeach him. At the same time, the Prosecutors’ Office, the National Police Agency, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials launched a joint investigation into his attempted insurrection. That is how Yoon became the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korean history.
Second, the martial law stunt demonstrates the importance of a leader’s qualifications. From the very beginning, there have been worries about Yoon’s qualifications as President: he lacked political experience, knowledge about Korea’s modern history, and an awareness of democratic values, among others. But more importantly, from the recent developments, people have realized that he lacks empathy and the ability to make appropriate decisions. For example, he said in his apology statement on December 7, 2024, “I will not evade legal and political responsibility in relation to this declaration of martial law.” But throughout the court hearings and investigations, he has consistently denied all the charges despite clear evidence and testimonies.
President violating the constitution
That being said, Yoon should be dismissed through the impeachment process.
First, Yoon created violence and severe disorder in South Korea by disrupting the National Assembly. South Korea’s Criminal Law states, “A person who creates a violence for the purpose of usurping the national territory or subverting the Constitution shall be punished” under insurrection charges. Yoon ordered Special Forces to seize the National Assembly and arrest the lawmakers, including the opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-shik. Following his order, Special Forces smashed windows of the National Assembly building and attempted to arrest some lawmakers, who have been regarded as opponents of Yoon. According to the Prosecutors’ Office, he even encouraged Special Forces to use guns. This is supported by a key witness’ testimony.
Second, Yoon incited or facilitated violence even after his failed attempt to seize the National Assembly. The joint investigation team tried to bring him into interrogations several times regarding his insurrection charges. Yoon consistently refused to cooperate, contrary to what he said in the apology statement in December. Yoon kept staying in the presidential residence and repeatedly ordered his security guards to use firearms against any attempts to arrest him. Also Yoon issued messages for his staunch supporters: “I will fight until the end to protect this country together with you.” These supporters would later, in full force, storm the court that has extended Yoon’s detention, recalling President Trump’s supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Dangerous gamble regarding North Korea
Third, his hawkish policy toward North Korea endangered the Korean Peninsula. Most notably, according to some confidential documents obtained by the lawmakers, it appears that President Yoon planned to provoke North Korea on purpose, leading to border skirmishes and thereby declaring martial law legally. The South Korean public has gone through dangerous moments fearing actual military clashes with North Korea. South Korea’s Constitution states, “The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification.” Yoon as the President, however, explicitly violated the Constitution.
If the Constitutional Court rejects the motion to impeach Yoon, South Korea will plunge into unprecedented chaos. He gravely damaged the country’s democratic systems and explicitly violated the Constitution. More than that, he already lost trust among the public. Even before his martial law stunt, his approval rating was very low, around 20% or less. South Korea deserves a better president. By firing Yoon, South Korea will have a unique history: two impeached presidents following the impeachment of the former President Park Geun-hye in 2017. This is not good news. In the long term, however, this unique history would continue to prove the resilience of South Korea’s democracy.
[Photo by ChongDae, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Dr Sungju Park-Kang is Research Fellow at the DPRK Strategic Research Center, Assistant Professor of International Relations, and Founder of Kang Scholarship at KIMEP University, where he is also acting as President’s discussion partner. In addition, Park-Kang is Adjunct Professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland. He was formerly Assistant Professor of Korean Studies and International Relations at Leiden University, the Netherlands and the University of Central Lancashire, UK. His work has appeared in Review of International Studies, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Asia Europe Journal, Polity and The Geopolitics, among others. Park-Kang is the author of Tears of Theory: International Relations as Storytelling and Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth.
