Top presidential aides offer to quit en masse as South Korea’s political crisis deepens
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Senior secretaries tender resignations after acting leader names new judges to court handling Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment case. Senior aides of Yoon Suk Yeol have offered to resign after two new judges were named to a court set to decide the impeached president’s fate.
An arrest warrant has been issued to detain Mr Yoon for questioning over his botched attempt to impose martial law last month after the president ignored multiple summons to answer charges of insurrection and abuse of power. Acting president Choi Sang Mok on Tuesday approved two new judges for the Constitutional Court, which is set to rule on the validity of Mr Yoon’s impeachment by the National Assembly. The nine-judge court had three seats vacant.
If at least six of the judges rule to uphold the parliamentary decision, Mr Yoon will be removed from power. After Mr Choi appointed the new judges, Mr Yoon's chief of staff, policy chief, national security advisor, and special advisor on foreign affairs and security gave their resignations, as did all other senior secretaries, the president’s office said in a statement.
Mr Choi said he would not accept their resignations as the priority now was to focus on improving the economy and stabilising state affairs, his office said. The aides had repeatedly asked to step down in the wake of Mr Yoon's shortlived attempt to declare martial law on 3 December, but their resignations were not accepted.
