POLL 61% of Koreans support PM's impeachment over martial law fiasco

Prime Minister and then-acting President Han Duck-soo steps to the podium during a press conference at the Seoul Government Complex, Thursday. Yonhap

More than half of Koreans believe Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and other Cabinet members of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration should be impeached for their alleged role in Yoon’s botched martial law on Dec. 3.

According to a poll by The Korea Times, 61 percent of respondents agreed that the martial law fiasco could be one of the reasons to impeach Han and other Cabinet members.

The poll aligns with a recent survey by Opinion Research Justice last week that showed 52.2 percent of respondents supported Han’s impeachment.

The Korea Times poll also surveyed political party affiliations.

It found that 95, 96 and 80 percent of those who support the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party and the Jinbo Party, respectively, also sided with Han's impeachment.

 

However, only 9 percent of those who agreed with the impeachment supported the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP).

In contrast, 87 percent of respondents who disagreed with Han’s impeachment identified themselves as PPP supporters. The figure is lower among those who support opposition parties, with the DPK at 4 percent, the Rebuilding Korea Party at 4 percent and the Jinbo Party at 20 percent.

By age, more than half of Koreans aged over 60 disapproved of Han’s impeachment, while six to seven out of 10 respondents in all age groups under 60 supported it.

Han is suspended from duty after the opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached him last week over his refusal to exercise his presidential power as then-acting president to appoint three justices to the Constitutional Court.

Police have summoned Han to appear for a second round of questioning on Monday for his alleged role in the martial law chaos.

He is expected to be asked when he learned of Yoon’s plan to declare martial law, amid claims by former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun’s legal representatives that Kim reported the plan to Han before the president.

The Korea Times commissioned a Hankook Research poll of 1,000 adults aged 18 and older on Thursday and Friday to gauge public sentiment.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, with a credibility rate of 95 percent. Further details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission’s website.