Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Impeached South Korean President Faces Trial
Unlike in the United States, when a South Korean president is impeached, there is a trial in the Supreme Court of the country to determine if the politician should be reinstated or removed. Tomorrow, the trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol begins. He needs three of the eight judges to back him. There is one vacancy on the court. Of the eight, two were appointed by the People Power Party of the president, three by Democratic Party of his predecessor and three by the current and former members of the court. That one vacancy may be the end. At the same time, it could be that he has no support at all, including with the two he appointed.
Choe Sang-Hun reported in the New York Times:
The eight justices on the court will be the final arbiters on the fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and suspended from office on Dec. 14 by the National Assembly for his short-lived declaration of martial law 11 days earlier.
The stakes are high. Rival groups of citizens have rallied for weeks, some in front of the court, either calling for Mr. Yoon’s ouster or demanding his return to office. Hard-liners on both sides have warned of "civil war" if the court does not rule in their favor.
This journal believes that the right in the South Korean body politic is diseased. If ousted, Mr. Yoon will be the third, consecutive president from the right to be removed before the expiration of the presidential term.
Mr. Choe stated, "In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by the National Assembly for violating election law, but he was reinstated by the court, which ruled that his offense was not serious enough. In 2017, the court ousted Park Geun-hye, another impeached president, for corruption and abuse of power."
Mr. Yoon will not go quietly. CNN reported "South Korea looks set for a dramatic political showdown this week as impeachment proceedings kick off against suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who remains holed up in his fortified residence evading arrest for a separate criminal investigation.
"The embattled leader's short-lived declaration of martial law in December triggered widespread public outrage and protests, and plunged the country into its biggest political crisis in decades.
"For weeks, Yoon has barricaded himself in his hillside compound in the capital Seoul, surrounded by his Presidential Security Service (PSS) team, while outside the gates hundreds of his die-hard conservative supporters have vowed to protect him."
This is probably the most troubling part of the entire situation. Many on the South Korean right refuse to accept the rule of law when it comes to their man being held accountable. They object to the idea that their man could be arrested despite the fact that there is a warrant for his arrest. These are the same right wingers who always complain about the crime and disorder they think exists.
Lee Hai-Rin writing in the Korea Times stated, "President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered security personnel to use weapons against investigators attempting to execute a warrant for his detention over an investigation into his declaration of martial law, an opposition lawmaker claimed, Monday."
The accusation should be viewed with some skepticism as it came from a legislator in the Democratic Party. However, the idea that such an accusation could be credible shows how delicately the situation is balanced. This could get very messy every easily.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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