South Korea’s opposition chief urges top court to act swiftly on impeachment

South Korea’s opposition leader urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on a bid to remove president Yoon Suk Yeol from office, the day after parliament voted to impeach him over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.

Mr Yoon’s powers will be suspended until the court rules on the case, either removing Mr Yoon from office or restoring his powers.

The court has up to 180 days to decide, and if he is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, told reporters on Sunday that a swift ruling is the only way to minimise the national chaos triggered by Mr Yoon’s martial law decree.

Prime minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s No 2 official, took over presidential powers later on Saturday. Mr Han was appointed by Mr Yoon, whose government has struggled to pass legislation in the opposition-controlled parliament.

Mr Lee also proposed the creation of a national council where the government and the National Assembly would work together to stabilise state affairs.

He said bipartisan cooperation is essential to navigating the political paralysis that has halted high-level diplomacy and spooked financial markets since Mr Yoon’s martial law decree.

Mr Lee also said that the Democratic Party would not seek to impeach Mr Han, despite some calls to do so over his alleged inaction to prevent Mr Yoon’s martial law enforcement. Mr Lee said there was no need to introduce further political uncertainty.

“The Democratic Party will actively cooperate with all parties to stabilize state affairs and restore international trust,” Mr Lee said.

“The National Assembly and government will work together to quickly resolve the crisis that has swept across the Republic of Korea.”

Mr Yoon’s December 3 imposition of martial law, the first of its kind in more than four decades, lasted only six hours, but has caused massive political tumult, halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets. Mr Yoon was forced to lift his decree after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.

Mr Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament in an effort to stop the vote, but they withdrew after the parliament rejected Mr Yoon’s decree. No major violence occurred.

Opposition parties have accused Mr Yoon of rebellion, and say that a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and would have no right to suspend parliament’s operations even in those cases.

The conservative Mr Yoon rejects the charges and says he aimed to issue a warning to the Democratic Party, which he has called an “anti-state force” as it has used its control of parliament to impeach many top officials and hold up the government’s budget bill for next year.