Political Turmoil Escalating in South Korea as Impeached President Battles To Regain Power

South Korea enters the new year amid escalating political turmoil as the impeached president, Yoon Suk-yeol, battles arrest nearly a month after he failed to shut up his foes by declaring martial law.From within the presidential office complex, Mr. Yoon counted on his legal team, as well as security guards, to head off attempts to detain him at the behest of corruption investigators whom Mr. Yoon has refused to see.A member of Mr. Yoon’s legal team charged that the warrant issued by a district court in Seoul was “illegal” and that the high-level Corruption Investigation Office that wants to interrogate Mr. Yoon “has no investigative rights,” as was reported by Seoul’s Yonhap News.Mr. Yoon’s accusers, led by the opposition Minju or Democratic Party that voted down his declaration of martial law in the national assembly nearly a month ago, want to jail him for “insurrection.”Mr. Yoon, while getting abysmal ratings in the polls, has considerable support not only from his own conservative People Power Party but from protesters who often outnumber the thousands of demonstrators calling for his arrest. The Minju leader, Lee Jae-young, whom Mr. Yoon narrowly edged out in the 2022 presidential election, himself faces long-standing charges of corruption in real estate scandals dating from his days as mayor of a city south of Seoul and as governor of the province surrounding the capital.Another complication is the widespread suspicion of Chinese influence among Minju members campaigning for Mr. Yoon’s ouster. Although stripped of his power as president, he retains the title until the country’s constitutional court, by at least a 6-to-3 vote, upholds the impeachment motion. If the court does not rule for impeachment, Mr. Yoon resumes full authority as president.A long-time Rand Corporation researcher on Korean issues, Bruce Bennett, said the South Korean military, immediately after Mr. Yoon declared martial law but before he rescinded the decree six hours later, searched the offices of the country’s National Election Commission “for evidence of Chinese backing.” Korea’s National Intelligence Service “had found considerable evidence of Chinese backing of the NEC,” Mr. Bennett told the Sun, “but the NEC did not allow outsiders to examine NEC computers directly.”Yet if “the Chinese successfully hacked into the NEC,” Mr. Bennett said, expressing the suspicions of many Koreans, “that could cause an even greater political crisis in South Korea, raising questions about the legitimacy of the current makeup of the national assembly.”l“Of course, as Chinese hacking happened, the Chinese may have also done their best to erase all evidence,” Mr. Bennett added. “So a lack of evidence does not prove that the Chinese are innocent.” As the leftist-led Minju presses its campaign to drive the conservative People Power Party from power, the divide between left and right in Korea is steadily widening. “Korea remains in the grip of a partisan fever that shows no signs of breaking any time soon,” a retired senior American diplomat at Seoul, Evans Revere, told the Sun. Mr. Revere placed his hopes, though, on the wisdom of leaders of both parties to “understand that they are damaging themselves, Korea’s democracy, and the ROK’s stature, credibility, and international reputation by continuing to pursue the nasty political confrontation that has characterized governance (or the lack thereof) in Seoul for so long.” As evidence, Mr. Revere cited the willingness of Korea’s acting president, Choi Sang-mok, to appoint to the constitutional court two of three judges recommended by the Minju-dominated national assembly to fill out the court’s vacancies. That decision, Mr. Revere said, “demonstrated Choi’s willingness to be flexible in the face of the opposition party’s demands.” The Minju, though, was not appeased. Its leaders demanded appointment of the third justice “immediately.” Yonhap News quoted one of them claiming Mr. Choi “does not have the authority to refuse.” A retired American army colonel, David Maxwell, after five tours in South Korea, placed his hopes on the professionalism of the army and police.“Both parties are blowing up the democratic process and seem equally guilty of harming the republic,” he told the Sun. “But it is the professionals and the people who will likely hold it together for the good of the Republic of Korea.” But, Colonel Maxwell added, “If they cannot, then there is no telling where this will go.”

Political Turmoil Escalating in South Korea as Impeached President Battles To Regain Power

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