Martial Law: South Korean opposition files motion to impeach President Yoon

South Korea’s opposition parties on Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing pressure to leave office hours after he ended a short-lived martial law that had prompted troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers voted to lift it.

Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament for the motion and then the backing of at least six Constitutional Court justices.

The motion, submitted jointly by the main opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday.

Yoon’s senior advisers and secretaries offered to resign collectively, and his Cabinet members, including Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, were also facing calls to step down as the nation struggled to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly thought-out stunt.

In the capital, tourists and residents walked around, traffic and construction were heard, and other than crowds of police holding shields, it seemed like a normal sunny, cold December morning.

On Tuesday night, Yoon abruptly imposed emergency martial law, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces after he struggled to push forward his agenda in the opposition-dominated parliament. But his martial law was effective for only about six hours, as the National Assembly voted to overrule the president. The declaration was formally lifted around 4:30 a.m. during a Cabinet meeting.

Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at NeptunePrime.

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