After 38 days of deliberation, the Constitutional Court has ruled Yoon Suk Yeol impeached.
Chief Justice Moon Hyung Bae first spoke on how South Korea’s Constitution allows for impeachment of a President starting at the Legislative level and deemed it a valid and legal case of impeachment. He continued that the National Assembly’s impeachement motion was not simply a case where the Opposition party is trying to abuse Legislative power to try to take over the presidency as the allegations of legal violations by Yoon Suk Yeol have been substantiated.
He then spoke about how Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of Martial Law did not meet the requirements, stating how there needs to be a national emergency such as war. But instead, Yoon Suk Yeol claimed that unilateral budget cuts by the Opposition party as a grave crisis. He stated that Yoon Suk Yeol’s issues should have been resolved through political means, not by declaring martial law.
Moon Hyung Bae continued, speaking on how the Constitutional Court cannot accept Yoon Suk Yeol’s claim that his Martial Law declaration was simply a warning, citing his mobilization of both the military and police. He acknowledged that Yoon Suk Yeol may have briefed the Prime Minister and other Cabinet members, but did not allow them time to express their own opinions, leaving the Constitutional Court to judge that no deliberations on proceeding with martial law took place. He also cited Yoon Suk Yeol’s instructions to the Army Commander to break down the National Assembly doors and drag out members of the National Assemble and the mobilization of police to block the entrances of the National Assembly building. He referred to the order to track down the locations of 14 prominent lawmakers and the order to arrest them if necessary.
After going through the events of the December 3, 2024 when he declared martial law, Moon Hyung Bae spoke about how Yoon Suk Yeol simply violated the basic ideology of a democracy, disregarding the Constitution and its governing structure. He finally ruled Yoon Suk Yeol impeached with a vote of eight judges for, zero against. As Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached, he will immediately be removed from the office and South Korea will be required to hold a snap presidential election within 60 days.
