SEOUL, South Korea — Korea’s political crisis, an ongoing struggle between a crippled executive and an empowered legislature, lurched further into uncharted territory Friday as the opposition proposed to impeach acting President Choi Sang-mok
Mr. Choi would be the third national leader unseated by the opposition-controlled National Assembly within three months if the proposal is approved.
The Democratic Party of Korea, with four minor opposition parties, demanded Mr. Choi’s removal, citing his veto of the appointment of an opposition-approved judge to the Constitutional Court.
That court is deliberating the fate of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Mr. Choi had approved the appointment of one judge promoted by the liberal DPK and one by the ruling conservative People Power Party. However, he held off on the third appointee, favored by the opposition, demanding the National Assembly reach a consensus.
No consensus was reached.
The impeachment motion has 72 hours to move. If it passes, Mr. Choi would follow Mr. Yoon and his successor as acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, as the leaders unseated in the last three months.
Mr. Yoon was impeached by the Assembly on Dec. 14, in the wake of his shock martial law decree on Dec. 3. Then Mr. Han was impeached in an unprecedented move on Dec. 27. That propelled Mr. Choi, the finance minister, into the hot seat.
Friday’s development is the latest maneuver in a political conflict defined by a long chain of opposition impeachments of executive appointees — and an equally long chain of presidential vetoes of opposition initiatives.
The DPK “have all the cards,” said Yang Sun-mook, a former international relations consultant to the DPK. “They have impeached 29 officials — including a president and an acting president — and this will be the 30th.”
Of those impeachments, eight have been overturned. Kim Chul-hong, an organizer of pro-Yoon activism, accused the DPK of overreach.
It is “making a suicide attack, revealing its incapacity to manage the crisis, which is an unavoidable consequence of it impeachment and insurrection saga against President Yoon,” he said.
The impeachment saga in the key U.S. Indo-Pacific ally — the only one where American soldiers have a footprint in continental Asia — generated some wry commentary.
“It’s wash, rinse, repeat,” said one expatriate businessman. “Groundhog Day!”
Courtroom dramas on all fronts
The Constitutional Court has announced that Mr. Han’s fate will be decided on Monday. However, it has not announced when it will rule on Mr. Yoon’s case.
There had been widespread anticipation that the court would announce a decision — or at least, announce the date of its decision — on Mr. Yoon’s impeachment last week. That has not happened.
Fraying nerves further, the court’s deliberations are taking far longer than prior proceedings.
It took 14 days to rule on the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun (overturned) in 2004 and 11 days in the case of President Park Geun-hye (upheld) in 2017.
The court’s deliberations on Mr. Yoon have been underway for 24 days.
The opposition has sound, if partisan, political reasons to demand the appointment of a sympathetic judge.
The Constitutional Court’s bench holds nine judges, but only eight seats are filled. At least six judges must vote in favor for an impeachment to be upheld.
If the impeachment is approved, a presidential election is held within 60 days. If not, Mr. Yoon returns to office.
Adding yet more uncertainty is a separate court appearance by DPK leader and potential presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung scheduled for March 26.
He faces perjury charges related to graft allegations in his early political career in local politics.
If the Seoul High Court rules against him next week, Mr. Lee, 61, could lose his seat and be barred from politics for a decade.
A “love him, hate him” figure, Mr. Lee’s removal could favor the DPK. A foreign diplomat noted that not only is he divisive, but he also has a poor record at elections.
However, he has a path forward.
“He can appeal if found guilty,” Mr. Yang said. “That will give him six months or more.”
Normalcy, but tensions stir
While Korean daily life and commerce continue with considerable normalcy, it is impossible to overlook simmering stresses.
A procession of anti-Yoon tented stalls has been set up beside the front gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Korea’s most iconic tourist site.
Noisy but peaceful pro- and anti-Yoon demonstrations in Seoul’s central business district, and around the nearby Constitutional Court — fenced off by police — are near-constant. Both areas are heaving on Saturdays, with massive numbers expected Saturday.
The police plan to halt all leave and deploy 14,000 officers, from a national force of 130,000, to crowd-control duties in Seoul on the day of the ruling on Mr. Yoon.
Advocates in both the pro- and anti-Yoon camps have vowed not to accept a verdict they oppose. But tough talk does not mean civic strife is imminent.
Since 2002, when the country joint-hosted the World Cup, Korean mass gatherings have been “orderly, exemplary and praised by global media,” Mr. Yang said.
“We have a strong pride in our hearts and will not allow any violence — though there will be mad, upset demonstrations,” he predicted.
The presidential power vacuum is also being felt.
The country’s foreign minister jetted to Tokyo Friday for an annual trilateral meeting with counterparts from Japan and China. But developments in South Korea’s leading ally and trade partner, the United States, have generated concerning headlines.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, on his first Asian tour, next week is scheduled to visit Guam, Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines, but not South Korea, regional media have reported this week.
And the country was shaken to learn Friday that it had been named by the U.S. Department of Energy as a “sensitive country.” Seoul’s industry minister is currently visiting Washington to manage the fallout.
The Energy Department attached the label due to “security leaks,” though the nature of those leaks has not been disclosed. Korean parliamentarians, however, have a longtime habit of leaking closed-door briefings to the media.
