Rival rallies were set to take place across South Korea on Saturday, as supporters and opponents of suspended President Yoon Suk-Yeol gathered two weeks after his impeachment, amid the country’s deepening political crisis.
The protests came in the wake of widespread protests that have shocked South Korea since Yoon attempted to impose martial law in early December, sparking the worst political crisis of the decade.
Lawmakers on Friday impeached Yoon’s replacement, acting president Han Duck-soo, after he resisted the demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment process and to bring him to justice. It is up to the Constitutional Court to decide Yoon’s, and now Han’s fate, but demonstrators from both camps have vowed to keep up pressure in the meantime.
A major point of debate was Han Duck-Soo’s refusal to approve the appointment of additional judges to the Constitutional Court, which currently has three vacant seats. With six judges on the bench, a single disagreeing vote could reinstate Yoon, making the appointment of additional judges crucial to resolving a deadlock.
The opposition has pressured Han to approve three new nominees, but his refusal has left both sides locked in a political impasse. The second impeachment on Friday jabbed Finance Minister Choi Sang-Mok into the roles of acting president and prime minister.
Following the impeachment of Han, Finance Minister Choi Sang-Mok assumed the roles of acting president and prime minister. His rise to power marks an unprecedented political situation in South Korea, as the country has never seen a “substitute for a substitute.”
Choi, like his predecessors, now faces pressure from the opposition to approve the appointment of new judges to the Constitutional Court. If he refused, he could soon face his own impeachment vote.
Choi said in a statement after the impeachment that, “Minimising governmental turmoil is of utmost importance at this moment,” adding that “the government will also dedicate all its efforts to overcoming this period of turmoil”.
