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Korea Herald
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Special counsel probes of Yoon couple 'people's demand': presidential office
The presidential office said Thursday that the special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee were launched in response to the people's demand. Kang Yu-jung, Lee's spokesperson, told a press briefing that "getting to the bottom of insurrection is the demand of the people, as the results of the presidential election show." The opposition People Power Party said that the special counsel investigations were of an "unprecedented size costing billions of won," with a total of 577 prosecutors and investigators. "The sheer size of the investigations is tantamount to a single district attorney's office," the People Power Party said in a statement Wednesday, saying the Democratic Party of Korea has "created its own district attorney's office." Tuesday's Cabinet meeting approved the ruling Democratic Party-led bills for opening special counsel investigations into the former first couple, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik asking President Lee Jae-myung to appoint special counsels to lead the investigations. The special counsels would look into allegations that Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law on Dec. 3. They would also scrutinize allegations that Yoon's wife Kim, meddled in the People Power Party's nomination process for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election.
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Yoon, wife to face special counsel probes
577 prosecutors, investigators allotted to look into ex-first couple President Lee Jae-myung's Cabinet on Tuesday passed bills to open three special counsel investigations into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee. The bills are intended to "end the insurrection" that the Lee administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accuse Yoon of instigating with his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3, 2024. At the second Cabinet meeting since Lee took office last week, the Democratic Party-led bills passed into law to bring together 577 prosecutors and investigators in total to investigate the former first couple. The combined size of the legal teams involved in the investigations is comparable to a district attorney's office. With Tuesday's passage, a special counsel investigation will look into if Yoon committed either insurrection or treason by trying to impose martial law. Yoon declared martial law late in the evening of Dec. 3, only to lift it six hours later following a National Assembly resolution that opposed it. The Democratic Party contends that Yoon attempted to provoke military action from North Korea with his hawkish policies to lay the groundwork for the declaration of martial law. Yoon's Ministry of National Defense playing anti-Kim Jong-un regime broadcasts along the inter-Korean borders from June 2024 was one example of the former administration deliberately seeking military confrontation with North Korea, according to the Democratic Party. Before their resumption last year, the border broadcasts had been used by the South Korean military as a psychological warfare tactic in the past, before they were halted in 2018 under then-President Moon Jae-in. The Democratic Party also claims that Yoon sent drones across the border into North Korea in October 2024, echoing Pyongyang's accusations that the South Korean military was behind the alleged drone infiltration. Yoon allegedly attempting to instigate an armed conflict with North Korea in the run-up to his martial law decree qualifies as "treason," the Democratic Party claimed, on top of being a "rebellion against the Constitution, which is to say, insurrection." Yoon's wife Kim is set to face a separate special counsel investigation that will scrutinize allegations she was involved in the then-ruling People Power Party's nomination of candidates for a National Assembly seat in the 2022 by-election. Another special counsel investigation would revisit the death of a Marine in July 2023. Cpl. Chae Su-geun, 20, died when he was swept away in moving water during a search and rescue operation to locate flood victims in a rain-swollen river in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. The Democratic Party says Yoon's presidential office tried to impede the preliminary probe into Chae's death at the time to cover up possible wrongdoing at the top. Special counsels will be given as long as 170 days to investigate Yoon and his wife. Yoon was removed from office on April 4 in a unanimous ruling by the Constitutional Court over the martial law debacle, leading South Korea to hold an early presidential election on June 3.
The Hill
01-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
South Korea's Constitutional Court will rule Friday on whether to dismiss impeached President Yoon
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's Constitutional Court said it will rule on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol this Friday. It has been deliberating on Yoon's political fate over his ill-fated imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. Whatever decision is, it will likely deepen domestic divisions. Millions of people have rallied in Seoul and elsewhere to support or denounce Yoon in the past few months. Police said they'll mobilize all available personnel to preserve order and respond to acts of vandalism, arson and assault. The Constitutional Court said in a statement Tuesday that it would issue the ruling Friday. The opposition-controlled liberal National Assembly in December voted to impeach Yoon, a conservative, leaving his political fate in the hands of the Constitutional Court. Yoon is facing a separate criminal trial after he was arrested and indicted by prosecutors in January on rebellion charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law decree. The Constitutional Court's endorsement of Yoon's impeachment would officially drive him out of office and prompt a national election within two months to find a new president. If the court overturns Yoon's impeachment, Yoon would immediately return to his presidential duties. At the heart of the matter is Yoon's decision to send hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after imposing martial law. Yoon has insisted that he aimed to maintain order, but some military and military officials have said Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to frustrate a floor vote on his decree and detain his political opponents. Yoon argues that he didn't intend to maintain martial law for long, and he only wanted to highlight what he called the 'wickedness' of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda, impeached senior officials and slashed his budget bill. During his martial law announcement, he called the assembly 'a den of criminals' and 'anti-state forces.' By law, a president has the right to declare martial law in wartime or other emergency situations, but the Democratic Party and its supporters say South Korea wasn't in such a situation. The Democratic Party-led impeachment motion accused Yoon of suppressing parliament's activities, attempting to detain politicians and others and undermining peace in violation of the constitution and other laws. Yoon has said he had no intention of disrupting National Assembly operations and detaining anyone. Yoon's martial law lasted only six hours because lawmakers managed to enter the assembly and vote to strike down his decree unanimously. No violence erupted, but live TV footage showing armed soldiers arriving at the assembly invoked painful memories of past military-backed dictatorships. It was the first time for South Korea to be placed under martial law since 1980.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Korea's Constitutional Court will rule Friday on whether to dismiss impeached President Yoon
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's Constitutional Court said it will rule on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol this Friday. It has been deliberating on Yoon's political fate over his ill-fated imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. Whatever decision is, it will likely deepen domestic divisions. Millions of people have rallied in Seoul and elsewhere to support or denounce Yoon in the past few months. Police said they'll mobilize all available personnel to preserve order and respond to acts of vandalism, arson and assault. The Constitutional Court said in a statement Tuesday that it would issue the ruling Friday. The opposition-controlled liberal National Assembly in December voted to impeach Yoon, a conservative, leaving his political fate in the hands of the Constitutional Court. Yoon is facing a separate criminal trial after he was arrested and indicted by prosecutors in January on rebellion charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law decree. The Constitutional Court's endorsement of Yoon's impeachment would officially drive him out of office and prompt a national election within two months to find a new president. If the court overturns Yoon's impeachment, Yoon would immediately return to his presidential duties. At the heart of the matter is Yoon's decision to send hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after imposing martial law. Yoon has insisted that he aimed to maintain order, but some military and military officials have said Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to frustrate a floor vote on his decree and detain his political opponents. Yoon argues that he didn't intend to maintain martial law for long, and he only wanted to highlight what he called the 'wickedness' of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda, impeached senior officials and slashed his budget bill. During his martial law announcement, he called the assembly 'a den of criminals' and 'anti-state forces.' By law, a president has the right to declare martial law in wartime or other emergency situations, but the Democratic Party and its supporters say South Korea wasn't in such a situation. The Democratic Party-led impeachment motion accused Yoon of suppressing parliament's activities, attempting to detain politicians and others and undermining peace in violation of the constitution and other laws. Yoon has said he had no intention of disrupting National Assembly operations and detaining anyone. Yoon's martial law lasted only six hours because lawmakers managed to enter the assembly and vote to strike down his decree unanimously. No violence erupted, but live TV footage showing armed soldiers arriving at the assembly invoked painful memories of past military-backed dictatorships. It was the first time for South Korea to be placed under martial law since 1980.
Washington Post
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
South Korea's Constitutional Court will rule Friday on whether to dismiss impeached President Yoon
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's Constitutional Court said it will rule on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol this Friday. It has been deliberating on Yoon's political fate over his ill-fated imposition of martial law that triggered a massive political crisis. Whatever decision is, it will likely deepen domestic divisions. Millions of people have rallied in Seoul and elsewhere to support or denounce Yoon in the past few months. Police said they'll mobilize all available personnel to preserve order and respond to acts of vandalism, arson and assault. The Constitutional Court said in a statement Tuesday that it would issue the ruling Friday. The opposition-controlled liberal National Assembly in December voted to impeach Yoon, a conservative, leaving his political fate in the hands of the Constitutional Court. Yoon is facing a separate criminal trial after he was arrested and indicted by prosecutors in January on rebellion charges in connection with his Dec. 3 martial law decree. The Constitutional Court's endorsement of Yoon's impeachment would officially drive him out of office and prompt a national election within two months to find a new president. If the court overturns Yoon's impeachment, Yoon would immediately return to his presidential duties. At the heart of the matter is Yoon's decision to send hundreds of troops and police officers to the assembly after imposing martial law. Yoon has insisted that he aimed to maintain order, but some military and military officials have said Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to frustrate a floor vote on his decree and detain his political opponents. Yoon argues that he didn't intend to maintain martial law for long, and he only wanted to highlight what he called the 'wickedness' of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda, impeached senior officials and slashed his budget bill. During his martial law announcement, he called the assembly 'a den of criminals' and 'anti-state forces.' By law, a president has the right to declare martial law in wartime or other emergency situations, but the Democratic Party and its supporters say South Korea wasn't in such a situation. The Democratic Party-led impeachment motion accused Yoon of suppressing parliament's activities, attempting to detain politicians and others and undermining peace in violation of the constitution and other laws. Yoon has said he had no intention of disrupting National Assembly operations and detaining anyone. Yoon's martial law lasted only six hours because lawmakers managed to enter the assembly and vote to strike down his decree unanimously. No violence erupted, but live TV footage showing armed soldiers arriving at the assembly invoked painful memories of past military-backed dictatorships. It was the first time for South Korea to be placed under martial law since 1980.
