SEOUL: South Korean police have begun investigating President Yoon Suk Yeol for alleged “insurrection” over his declaration of martial law, a senior police officer said on Thursday (Dec 5).
Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, told lawmakers that “the case has been assigned,” footage showed.
Insurrection is a crime that transcends presidential immunity and can carry the death penalty.
Opposition parties have moved to impeach the president after the short-lived imposition of martial law that brought armed troops into Seoul’s streets.
The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach Yoon on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night.
Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak on Wednesday.
The impeachment motion against Yoon was introduced in parliament early Thursday, meaning it can be put to a vote between Friday and Sunday.
A vote has been set for Saturday.
It will be scrapped if it is not voted within 72 hours of its parliamentary introduction, but a new motion can be submitted if the current one is scrapped or voted down, according to National Assembly officials.
Jo Seoung-iae, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said a vote on Saturday would provide sufficient time for the conservative lawmakers to contemplate their decisions on what he described as an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup”.
Prospects for Yoon’s impeachment are not clear as his People Power Party (PPP) decided on Thursday to oppose the motion’s passage.
Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the PPP, told reporters that his party would hold another meeting to determine how to oppose the motion’s passage.
Observers say PPP members could simply boycott a floor vote or cast ballots against the motion. Impeaching him would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members.
The opposition parties together have 192 seats and they need additional votes from the PPP.
Some experts earlier said the motion will likely be passed through parliament as 18 PPP lawmakers, who belong to an anti-Yoon faction in the party, already voted down Yoon’s martial law decree together with opposition lawmakers.
But speaking to reporters on Thursday, PPP leader Han Dong-hun, head of the anti-Yoon faction, said he would work to ensure that the impeachment motion does not pass though he remains critical of Yoon’s action, which he described as “unconstitutional”.
Han said that there is a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos”.