South Korea’s SEOUL Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, has not answered a request to be questioned over his unsuccessful effort to impose martial law.
The prosecutor’s office had invited Yoon to come in for interrogation on Sunday as part of an inquiry, but he told reporters that he was still assembling his defense team. On Monday, prosecutors intended to send out another summons.
By a vote of 204 to 85 on Saturday, Yoon was impeached. He is currently under criminal investigation for potential rebellion charges. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over as acting president after his presidential powers were immediately suspended.
Following his impeachment, Yoon delivered a forceful address in which he outlined his accomplishments since taking office in 2022, including the formation of an atrilateral security relationship with the United States and Japan, South Korea’s longtime adversary.
I am not going to give up. “I’ll try my hardest for our nation,” Yoon declared.
Investigators may seek a judge to issue an arrest warrant for Yoon if he continues to refuse to be questioned during the two inquiries.
According to an official from the recently established Joint Investigation Headquarters, a different team of investigators from the police, defense ministry, and anti-corruption agency failed to deliver a summons to appear for questioning on Wednesday, Yoon’s 64th birthday, on Monday.
According to the individual who spoke to reporters, the presidential security service declined to accept the requested paper, stating that it was outside the scope of their duties.
However, we sent out the attendance notice by mail as well. He stated that there will be no issues in spreading the word.
The Constitutional Court of South Korea began considering Yoon’s impeachment on Monday because to the brief martial law decree that shocked the East Asian democracy and important U.S. ally.
Although Yoon has expressed regret for imposing martial law, he claimed that the opposition-controlled parliament had no other option because it had paralyzed the administration. After lawmakers unanimously rejected the directive, which prohibited any political action and controlled the news media, Yoon revoked it just hours after he announced it on Dec. 3.
His impeachment, which many members of his party opposed, has caused internal division among his party. On Monday, party leader Han Dong-hoon announced his resignation and asked MPs to support the second impeachment resolution.
Yoon s impeachment trial is set to begin Dec. 27, Constitutional Court spokesperson Lee Jin told reporters Monday, and the court has six months to decide whether he should be removed from office. If Yoon is removed or resigns, a presidential by-election will be held within 60 days.
Yoon is South Korea s second conservative president in a row to be impeached afterPark Geun-hyein 2016.
Allies spooked
Concerns that nuclear-armed North Korea, which is still technically at war with the South, might try to exploit the situation have alarmed markets, the U.S., and other allies. South Korea’s political unrest has resulted in the resignations or arrests of several high-ranking defense and military officials.
Following Yoon’s impeachment, those worries seem to be abating. South Korean markets ended Monday mixed,CNBC reported, with the blue-chip Kospi losing 0.22%, while the benchmark Kosdaq ended the day 0.69% higher.
Han Duck-soo, the acting president, told PresidentJoe Bidenby phone Sunday that South Korea will be carrying out its foreign and security policies without fail.
He also said it was important for the U.S. and South Korea to bolster their joint defense posture in the face of threats from North Korea and itsgrowing cooperation with Russia.
According to the White House readout, Biden expressed his appreciation for the resiliency of democracy and the rule of law in South Korea and reaffirmed the ironclad nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, which hosts nearly 30,000 American troops.
The state-run news agency KCNA reported on Yoon’s impeachment Monday, along with the sizable crowd of demonstrators who gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul to support Saturday’s impeachment vote. This was in North Korea, where state media did not cover Yoon’s declaration of martial law until a week after it occurred.
That crowd was estimated at 200,000, Yonhap reported, citing the police, while there were smaller rallies in support of Yoon.
The people made this happen, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, told the crowd outside the National Assembly on Saturday after the impeachment motion passed.
On Sunday, Lee called for a swift impeachment trial and said his party would cooperate in efforts to restore stability.
He said he would not seek the impeachment of Han, the acting president, over his alleged role in the martial law declaration, because too much impeachment would result in confusion.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
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