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full screen South Korea now suspended President Yoon Suk-Yeol after parliament voted on December 14 to impeach him. Photo: Office of the President Via Yonhap/AP/TT
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has begun the impeachment process against suspended President Yoon Suk-Yeol, but has six months to decide whether to finally oust him.
At the same time, the police investigation into the attempted coup continues.
The police, the Defense Department’s investigative unit and the agency that investigates corruption among senior officials are conducting a joint investigation and want to summon Yoon for questioning on Wednesday. According to their request, reports the Korean news agency Yonhap, Yoon is suspected of being the leader of an attempted coup.
Shocked
Yoon shocked the country and the outside world by declaring a state of emergency with accompanying martial law on December 3. He had to back down only a few hours after the parliament voted against.
On Saturday, the country’s parliament voted, with more than a two-thirds majority, to impeach the president. He was immediately suspended from office. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister handles the duties of the President.
Now the country’s constitutional court is carrying out its part of the process. It has 180 days to make a decision on whether the president should be reinstated or removed from office. In two previous impeachments against presidents, it took two and three months respectively to reach a decision.
Party leader goes
The leader of the ruling PPP, the party to which the suspended president belongs, announced on Monday that he was leaving his post.
Han Dong-Hoon already demanded in the days after the state of emergency that the president should leave the party and the presidency. But a majority in the party has been against it – and also against impeaching Yoon.