As I highlighted in a previous commentary on South Korea's leadership drama, the turmoil continues with the frantic push by the opposition Democratic Party's leader, Lee Jae-myung, to have President Yoon Suk Yeol formally removed from office.
Why the urgency? Lee, facing six criminal cases and multiple charges, needs an election to occur before any of the convictions are finalized — potentially as early as next spring — as a conviction would disqualify him from running for the presidency.
It appears anyone or anything in the way of that objective will need to be swept aside, no matter how unsightly it might appear. So on Friday, the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against acting President Han Duk-soo with a 192-0 vote, in a session boycotted by People Power Party lawmakers, some of whom disputed the vote's legitimacy. The move came after Han refused to appoint three judges recently approved by Democratic Party lawmakers to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court.
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