South Korea’s political standoff continues

The attempt by South Korean investigators to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday had been foiled by the Presidential Security Service (PSS) and the police under its command. After a six-hour wait, the investigating officers who went to the president’s official residence in central Seoul returned.

Yoon had remained defiant despite the opposition-dominated parliament impeaching him for imposing martial law on December 3 and then rescinding the order within a few hours. He had however defended the decision to impose martial law saying the opposition was sympathetic to North Korea.

North Korea perceives him as a hardliner who is opposed to North Korea, and it had declared South Korea the “enemy”. And it had rejected any idea of reunification. Meanwhile, the deadlock between Yoon and the parliament continues.

Yoon is being investigated for the criminal charge of engineering an insurrection by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). Yoon’s office has issued a statement saying that the CIO had no authority to carry out the investigation. The Constitutional Court is hearing the case against Yoon, whether he should be removed or reinstated. The oral arguments before the court are said to be heard on January 14.

A South Korean president does not enjoy immunity for insurrection. The court must decide whether Yoon tried to torpedo democracy by imposing the martial law, which could be described as an insurrection.

It is not clear whether the armed forces in South Korea are involved in any way. The evidence as of now is that they are keeping aloof from the political turmoil that has been triggered by Yoon’s actions. The reason for Yoon lifting the martial law within a few hours of imposing it must be due to the fact that the armed forces refused to be part of it.

The martial law cannot be implemented without the help of the army. A section of the army has certainly tried to help the president enforce the martial law. Once the members of parliament, from the opposition and also from Yoon’s party evaded the forces who had surrounded the parliament building, and passed a resolution declaring martial law to be unlawful, the armed forces had moved away from the scene. The parliament had impeached Yoon on December 14.

After having failed to impose martial law, Yoon seems to be holding on to the constitution and the legal procedures to fend off the opposition and remain in power. South Korea’s parliament had not only impeached Yoon but it had also impeached prime minister Han Duck-soo who had taken charge as acting prime minister on December 27. He has been replaced by acting prime minister and acting president Choi Sang-mok on December 27. The CIO said that it would get the order to arrest Yoon from the acting president.

What is interesting is that the battle between the opposition-led parliament and the impeached president is being fought on democratic lines, each side looking to the law and the courts to resolve the standoff. What is very clear is that the people of South Korea do not want another spell of army rule which had ended in 1988. They are ready to endure the political crisis in a democratic system.

Yoon won the presidential election in March 2022 and his conservative credentials were well known. But his own party, the People’s Power Party, has not supported Yoon’s martial law decision. The ruling party does not want the democratic machinery to break down. The opposition Democratic Party wants to bring down the government and go for fresh elections. South Korea is literally poised at the knife’s edge.