Korea’s president impeached over martial law; political turmoil to ease

South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday over his stunning martial law decree, suspending him from office, in a move to ease political turmoil and stabilize financial markets in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The National Assembly passed the motion with 204 votes in favor, 85 votes against, three abstentions and eight invalid votes out of the 300 lawmakers.

“The National Assembly and the government will work together to quickly stabilize people’s livelihoods and daily lives while preventing external and internal concerns and worries about all aspects including the economy, diplomacy and defense from growing,” National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said after the impeachment.

Yoon reiterated his intention to fight it in the Constitutional Court after the decision, saying “I will never give up.”

South Korea has suffered a political crisis since Yoon declared surprise martial law on Dec. 3. Yoon survived the first impeachment vote on Dec. 7 after apologizing to the public for causing “discomfort and anxiety” with his martial law decision. Most ruling party lawmakers boycotted the floor vote at the session.

Yoon on Dec. 12 pledged to “fight until the end” the attempt to remove him from office despite mounting pressure from the public and even some ruling party lawmakers for him to step down.

TO STABILIZE FINANCIAL MARKETS

Korean financial markets lost ground due to the deepening political turmoil.

In the local stock markets, individual investors and foreigners dumped a net 2.5 trillion won ($1.8 billion) and 963 billion won, respectively, since the martial law was declared, according to Korea Exchange data.

The benchmark Kospi hit a 13-month low after Yoon survived the first impeachment vote.

The Korean won has shed 2.3% against the dollar since the martial law decree, adding to pressure on the worst-performing Asian currency with a 10.3% depreciation versus the greenback so far this year.

Korean financial assets are expected to recover as the latest impeachment vote will ease the political chaos, analysts said.

“The impeachment is predicted to accelerate the settlement process and stabilize the situation,” said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. “It could be repeated that hopes for a regime change boosted rebound momentum in the past.”

Domestic financial markets recovered in 2016 when lawmakers voted to impeach former President Park Geun-hye and the Constitutional Court determined to dismiss her as president.

UP TO 180 DAYS

The court has up to 180 days to decide whether to reinstate Yoon or formally remove him from office. If it rules to impeach him, an election for the next president must be called within 60 days of the ruling.

While Yoon is suspended from office, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over as acting president.

“I will devote all my strength and effort to the stable operation of state affairs,” Han said.

Han held an ad hoc cabinet meeting to check major pending issues and tell ministers to focus on state affairs despite the political turmoil.

Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok plans to meet Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong and other economy-related ministers on Sunday to discuss measures to ease concerns over the impeachment’s impact on the economy and financial markets.

Write to Jae-Youg Han and So-Ram Jung at jyhan@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon eited this article.