South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol replaced his defense minister Thursday amid opposition-led impeachment efforts against both men following the brief imposition of martial law that deployed armed troops in Seoul.
The Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted on Wednesday a joint motion to impeach President Yoon, over his martial law declaration the previous night.
Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.
Jo Seoung-lae, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said it will push for a National Assembly vote on Saturday evening to provide time for ruling party lawmakers to make their decisions on what he described as an "unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup."
On Thursday, Yoon’s office said he decided to replace Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun with Choi Byung Hyuk, a retired general who is South Korea’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho will be the acting minister until Choi assumes the job after a parliamentary hearing. The hearing is a formality as the president holds the power to appoint ministers outside of the prime minister without the approval of lawmakers.
Yoon’s office didn’t provide any further comments by him. He hasn’t appeared in public since his televised announcement that martial law was lifted.
The opposition parties earlier submitted a motion to impeach Kim, alleging he recommended that Yoon impose martial law. Kim had offered to resign and apologized for causing disruption and concern to the public. Kim said that "all troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me,” according to the Defense Ministry.
On Thursday, the Democrats and other opposition lawmakers voted to impeach Choe Jae-hae, chairman of South Korea's auditing board, and three top public prosecutors, including Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Chang-soo. The four will be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules whether to remove them from office. Members of the Yoon’s People Power Party boycotted the votes, leaving the totals far over the threshold to impeach them.
Choe has been accused of softening a review of Yoon’s 2022 decision to move the presidential office from a downtown palace to the Defense Ministry compound, which critics saw as inexplicable waste of money. The prosecutors were accused of watering down an investigation involving Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, linked to suspected stock price manipulation.
The Democratic Party’s continued attempts to impeach senior government officials and prosecutors have been a major source of conflict with Yoon, who during his martial law announcement accused the opposition of "anti-state activities” and "paralyzing the government.”
The PPP opposes the motion to impeach Yoon and party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said it would meet again to determine how to act. Members could boycott a floor vote or cast ballots against the motion.
Impeaching the president would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties together have 192 seats. Parliament's rejection of martial law passed unanimously Wednesday with support from 18 PPP lawmakers who belong to an anti-Yoon faction in the party.
But PPP leader Han Dong-hun, head of the anti-Yoon faction, told reporters Thursday he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he described Yoon’s declaration as "unconstitutional.” Han said there is a need to "prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”
Experts say PPP factions could unite to avoid what happened after the 2016 impeachment of conservative President Park Geun-hye with the votes of some lawmakers in her own party. After she was removed from office, the liberals easily won the presidency in a by-election as conservatives remained in disarray. She went to prison but was eventually pardoned.
If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over presidential responsibilities.
The impeachment motion against Yoon says he failed to meet the constitutional requirement that martial law should only be considered in wartime or a comparable severe crisis. It alleges he attempted a "self-coup” by mobilizing the military and that suspending political party activities and deploying troops to seal the National Assembly amounted to rebellion.
During a parliamentary hearing, Kim Seon Ho, the vice defense minister and acting defense chief, said he wasn’t informed about Yoon’s decision to impose martial law until the announcement was reported by the media.
He said he didn’t know who wrote the military proclamation announced after Yoon’s martial law declaration, which stated that the activities of political parties would be suspended, but that it didn’t come from the defense ministry. He said the decision to deploy troops at the National Assembly came from the former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun.
"I had fundamentally opposed the deployment of troops over this martial law and I expressed a negative opinion about it,” said Kim Seon Ho, without elaborating. "I would like to apologize to our citizens once again, and, on a personal level, I feel devastated.” Thousands of protesters marched in Seoul's streets Wednesday, carrying candles and signs calling for Yoon to step down, and another large anti-government gathering was expected Thursday evening.
Reflecting the country’s deeply polarized politics, hundreds of Yoon’s conservative supporters rallied in downtown Seoul on Thursday afternoon, holding signs criticizing Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, seen as a potential successor to Yoon despite facing trials over various corruption allegations.
With Yoon’s declaration sparking concerns about South Korea’s democratic status, officials have been trying to mitigate backlash.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said the ministry sent diplomatic notes to foreign missions, emphasizing that martial law was lifted through democratic procedures and that travel advisories need not change, as public safety remains stable. When asked about the U.S. Embassy in Seoul canceling routine consular operations, including visa and passport interviews, based on its assessment that South Korea’s "situation remains fluid,” Lee said Seoul was maintaining "necessary communication” with the Americans.
Yoon’s martial law declaration came hours after his summit with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, who traveled to Seoul on an official visit. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reportedly canceled a plan to visit South Korea this week.
"We are continuously trying to ensure a seamless and consistent implementation of our ministry’s diplomatic policies,” Lee said.
