How and when will South Korean President leave office after martial law crisis?

윤대통령 하야•개헌' 퇴진로드맵 격론

After a motion to impeach the President fell through in Parliament, the Prime Minister held a joint press conference with ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon on Sunday, with their aim to, quote, “ensure all state functions operate smoothly,” whilst making it clear that the nation's executive will not have a part in domestic or foreign policy.
The question of leadership hangs in the balance as the opposition party calls for impeachment and the ruling party tries to promote an orderly resignation by the president.
For more, we connect to our correspondent Oh Soo-young at the Presidential Office.

Q1: Sooyoung, let's quickly go over how the government and ruling party aim to stabilize the situation, and what has President Yoon Suk Yeol's response been so far.

Sure, Jungmin. As you said, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon on Sunday joined forces in a press conference and stated that until President Yoon Suk Yeol resigns, he will not take part in conducting state affairs or diplomacy.
Instead, the Prime Minister and the ruling party will hold regular meetings and work closely together to ensure smooth governance.
As for President Yoon, the troubled leader has stayed mum since his apology to the public.
His weekly meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday was canceled, according to the PM's office, although he has accepted ministerial resignations and named new officials.
Yoon stated Saturday that he would leave state affairs to the ruling party and the government but has not commented on their push for his early resignation.
But regarding the ban on overseas travel imposed on the president, and moves to investigate the first lady, various aides have told media that the news has been taken in shock, and it seems there will not be an official statement for the time being, as the troubled administration observes the rapid developments.

Q2. Well, all this effectively puts the Prime Minister in charge of state affairs in place of the President. The legal basis of this is being hotly debated right now.

That’s right. South Korea’s Constitution defines the Prime Minister as the country's second-ranking executive, following the President.
However, the PM can only assume the President’s responsibilities if the President is unable to perform their duties in cases such as death, voluntary resignation, or impeachment.
That’s why the opposition is heavily criticizing the PM and the ruling party’s move to stabilize state affairs, saying their approach is unconstitutional.
Some legal experts argue that the President could delegate authority to the Prime Minister through a political promise or other agreements.
Even if a political compromise were to grant the Prime Minister authority to oversee and direct the executive branch, it would likely exclude powers such as conducting diplomacy or exercising military command as the head of state.
In any case, there are no legal mechanisms to prevent the President from retracting this delegation and resuming to exercise his authority at any time.
So the issue of running state affairs remains murky until we see

Q3. So Sooyoung, the ruling party basically opposes impeachment but opinions are divided on how it should come about.

Yes, there are different views on the timing and manner in which the President would resign, after which an early election would be called.
Some believe the next election should be held within the next six months – a similar time frame to when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached eight years ago.
At the time, it took a little over five months between the impeachment until a new election was called.
Relatively neutral members of the party like Kim Tae-ho propose holding a faster election, in a so-called "Cherry Blossom Election."
There is also a considerable push by lawmakers like the People Power Party’s Yoon Sang-hyun to pursue a constitutional amendment to shorten the presidential term.
In this case, parliament would have to introduce negotiations for the constitutional amendment and a referendum process would be required.
That would result in more time consumed before the next presidential election.
But of course, the Democratic Party is currently rejecting the ruling party’s call for a so-called "orderly resignation,” and has threatened to vote on an impeachment motion on a weekly basis.
So, as the ruling and opposition parties' stances remain sharply divided, the timeline and the manner in which Yoon departs from office is all up in the air.

Thanks for keeping us updated, Sooyoung.

#YoonSukYeol #HanDonghoon #HanDucksoo #President_Yoon #윤석열 #한덕수 #한동훈 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스

2024-12-09, 20:00 (KST)

[sevenhuang]

This ruling party will lose big time in the next election.

[PatriceBoivin]

for some people, laws only apply to other people, not themselves.

[Teppei-wl]

If no impeachment … 3 option …. 1. Declare martial law again …. 2. Coup de eta 3. have 2 years of chaos and political unrest

[Be_kind_and_polite]

The public should continue to pressurize a specific number of ruling party members to force them to participate in these proposed weekly impeachment petitions

[MadanSKARuler]

Yoon Suk Yoel Will leave on Saturday December 2024. By Force.

[seedAndc]

I'm 🇰🇷korea christian.
I 100% support president yoon.
Jesus bless yoon and his nation.

[JJ-ekec]

You can not prosecute sitting president!!!