Focus returns to constitutional court in South Korea’s parliamentary saga
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Impeachment of acting president Han Duck-soo is latest twist in battle for country’s political future. For the fourth time this month, South Korea’s parliament has become the arena for a rancorous battle for the country’s political future. Safeguarding the hard-won rights and freedoms South Koreans have enjoyed for almost four decades is a lofty aim – and supported by the vast majority of voters – but the scenes inside the national assembly have been a reminder of how thin the line can be between democracy and rule by force.
![[Choi Sang-mok speaks at the government complex building in Seoul, South Korea, Friday 27 December 2024]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c6a0ff120dc5782282c5212a684dd628c9acbcae/0_199_3939_2363/master/3939.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The latest twist in a saga that began after darkness on 3 December – when the then president, Yoon Suk Yeol, imposed martial law and triggered a confrontation between MPs and troops inside the national assembly building – came on Friday, when the man who replaced Yoon met the same fate and was removed from power.
Han Duck-soo’s impeachment comes a fortnight after opposition MPs, helped by a dozen rebellious members of Yoon’s governing People Power party, threw Yoon out of office at the second time of asking. A week earlier, an initial attempt to impeach Yoon failed after his party boycotted the vote, leaving the chamber without enough votes to secure the required two-thirds majority.
Then, on Friday, Han paid the same price for his alleged involvement in what opposition MPs routinely refer to as Yoon’s ill-fated “insurrection”. The aftermath of South Korea’s six-hour descent into its authoritarian past is couched in legal terminology and complicated procedure: now that parliament has done its bit, the focus will return to the constitutional court.
