South Korea faces being thrown into turmoil as the North’s despotic Kim Jong-Un relishes in Seoul’s leader facing being ousted by a court for slapping martial law on the country
South Korea could be thrown into turmoil on Friday as a court decides whether to sack or back impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his self-staged military coup while North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un watches on in glee.
Tanks and troops hit the streets in South Korea last year after Yoon called the emergency, sparking mass chaos and confusion and threatening Seoul’s democracy. Judges will rule whether Yoon was justified in slapping martial law on his country in December, sending it into chaos and putting hundreds of troops and tanks on the street. And North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un is enjoying the ongoing controversy as he hates hardline Yoon for being tough on Pyongyang.
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It followed the hardliner leader’s claims South Korea is riddled with North Korean spies and that the liberal opposition was actively plotting against him and his administration. And the legal row over Yoon’s future has hugely strengthened North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un who felt Yoon’s administration was tough on him, folowing the more liberal previous leadership.
Whichever way the decision goes security officials fear violence could hit the streets as millions of people have demonstrated both for and against the leader. The ruling expected on Friday will determine his political fate, but it does not mean the turmoil caused by Mr Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law is over.
Yoon is also facing another and later trial for rebellion, the penalty for which is a jail sentence or the death penalty. Rival politicians have shaved their heads, launched hunger strikes and filed a slew of legal cases against each other.
It will also complicate South Korea’s efforts to deal with US President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy platform and North Korea’s increasing military cooperation with Russia. Hong Sung Gul, a public administration professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University, explained that regardless of the outcome, there’s a strong chance “bigger chaos will follow.”
“Whether Yoon’s impeachment is upheld or overturned at the Constitutional Court, it will be difficult to make both sides accept its ruling. There is a high possibility that bigger chaos will follow,” he said. Mr Yoon’s political fate has been in the hands of the Constitutional Court since the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached him on December 14.
If the court rules against Mr Yoon, he will be thrown out of office and a national election will be held for a successor within two months. If the court rules for Mr Yoon, he will immediately return to his presidential duties. At the heart of the case is Mr Yoon’s reason for sending hundreds of troops and police officers to parliament after declaring martial law.
Yoon says he wanted to maintain order, but some top military and police officers say he ordered them to pull out legislators to block an assembly vote over his decree. Mr Yoon’s martial law lasted only six hours because legislators managed to get in and vote down his decree. No violence and no arrests of politicians happened.
Mr Yoon says his martial law decree was meant to bring public attention to the “wickedness” of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda and impeached some of his top officials. Ousting Mr Yoon from office would see huge protests from his supporters, while reinstating him would rekindle huge liberal demonstrations that have been scaled down.
Pro-Yoon rallies turned violent in January when protesters stormed the Seoul Western District Court after it approved Mr Yoon’s formal arrest warrant. The protesters attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The attack injured 17 police officers.
Yoon faces a separate criminal trial for alleged rebellion in connection with his martial law decree, the penalty for which could be death or jail. The Constitutional Court’s endorsement of Mr Yoon’s impeachment could increase prospects for his rebellion conviction.
