The ministerial portfolio is changing due to the political crisis shaking South Korea. The president declared a short-lived state of emergency in the country on Tuesday.
President of South Korea Yoon Suk-yeol has been approved by the Minister of Defense by Kim Yong-hyun notice of resignation. The president appointed the country’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia as the new defense minister Choi Byung-hyuk too.
The ministerial portfolio is changing due to the political crisis shaking South Korea, triggered by the president. President Yoon declared a state of emergency in the country on Tuesday, which ultimately only lasted a few hours. It was opposed not only by the opposition, but also by Yoon’s own conservative party.
After the parliament immediately voted to revoke the state of emergency, President Yoon soon announced the cancellation of the decision. The change of defense minister was Yoon’s first official action after the end of the state of emergency.
South Korea’s opposition parties have impeached the president. The parliamentarians of the president’s conservative ruling party have decided to oppose the impeachment of the president, the news agencies AFP and Reuters reported earlier.
Opposition: Treasonous activity
Along with the president, Defense Minister Kim, who announced his resignation on Wednesday, played a key role in declaring the state of emergency.
According to an armed forces source who spoke to Reuters and the opposition’s impeachment letter, Kim would have proposed a state of emergency to the president. According to the country’s deputy defense minister, Kim also gave the order to send soldiers to the parliament building.
However, the deputy defense minister said that the soldiers sent to the parliament building did not have bullets in their possession, and the intention was not to use weapons on citizens.
The opposition Democratic Party has called Yoon’s state of emergency a treasonous decision. According to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the impeachment vote will take place on Saturday.
The US State Department, a close ally of South Korea, has said that Tuesday’s declaration of a state of emergency came as a complete surprise to the country. Deputy Foreign Minister by Kurt Campbell according to the exception, it was a matter of “bad misjudgment”.
The story was updated at 3:47 with information from the South Korean media that the impeachment vote will be held on Saturday.
Reuters