Korea Times Politics & City Reporter
Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Rival parties have been clashing over the extent of power and authority that acting President Han Duck-soo should wield in key state affairs after President Yoon Suk Yeol was suspended from duties last Saturday, according to party officials and political watchers, Tuesday.
A justice known for his conservative stance will lead the Constitutional Court's review of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment motion.
A leadership vacuum in Korea is feared to disrupt state affairs, diplomacy and many reform plans, after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s duties have been suspended following the National Assembly's vote to impeach him over his botched imposition of martial law.
After the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly contacted senior diplomats from the U.S., Japanese, and Chinese embassies in Seoul to reaffirm that Korea's foreign policy direction would remain unchanged.
The National Assembly passed a motion, Saturday, to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration, with at least 12 lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) joining in supporting his removal from office.
The National Assembly is expected to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday over his short-lived martial law on Dec. 3, as a growing number of ruling People Power Party (PPP) members are voicing support for the motion, political experts and party officials said Wednesday.
President Yoon Suk Yeol himself had ordered the then-chief of the Army Special Warfare Command to "drag lawmakers out of the National Assembly" on the night he declared martial law, the commander said Tuesday.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, have remained silent as of Monday, with no statements issued or official schedules conducted since the abrupt declaration of martial law last Tuesday evening.
Despite President Yoon Suk Yeol narrowly avoiding impeachment, his position has now entered a phase where effective governance appears unfeasible.
President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized to the nation for the chaos arising from his martial law in a televised public address at the presidential office on Saturday, adding that he would not shirk political and legal responsibility.