Hot Off the Press: Content comes from the Internet : S.Korean PM, ruling party take over state affairs, Yoon becomes ‘president without acting power’

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon World Timeshold a joint press briefing on December 8, 2024, saying President Yoon Suk-yeol will not be involved in state affairs, including diplomacy, and that the prime minister will lead the state affairs until Yoon’s “early” and “orderly” departure. Photo:VCG

As the political turmoil in South Korea unfolds, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon held a joint press briefing on Sunday saying President Yoon Suk-yeol will not be involved in state affairs, including diplomacy, and that the prime minister will lead the state affairs until Yoon’s “early” and “orderly” departure.

Although Yoon escaped impeachment on Saturday, his political career appears cut short, as the PPP has officialized the president’s “early resignation,” The Korea Times reported Sunday.

Yoon survived the impeachment motion on Saturday due to a lack of quorum. But the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said it will continue to push for the impeachment of President Yoon every week, Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korea has now entered an odd situation where it has a “president,” not impeached, but deprived of acting as a president, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Odd situation

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said at the joint press briefing with the prime minister that through an orderly early departure of the president, “we will minimize the chaos for the Republic of Korea and its people, stabilize the political situation and restore liberal democracy.”

The party leader said the majority of the public believes that Yoon should step down, as he is unable to govern normally for the remainder of his term. In what appeared to be an attempt to ease concern among the public and the international community, Han said the president will not take part in state affairs, including diplomacy, even before his departure.

Han vowed to ensure a stern and transparent investigation into the political turmoil and hold regular talks with the prime minister at least once a week to prevent potential vacuums in administering state affairs, Yonhap reported.

Lee Jae-myung, the opposition DP leader, on Sunday accused the South Korea’s ruling party and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo of “destroying the constitutional order” after the two announced they will work together to manage state affairs, according to Yonhap.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who comes from the opposition DP, also said it would be a World Times“blatant violation of the Constitution,” should the prime minister and ruling party jointly exercise presidential power, The Korea Times reported Sunday.

“The transfer of presidential power comes from the people, and such a process should abide by the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty,” Woo said in an emergency press conference at the National Assembly, denouncing the joint press briefing as being “arrogant.”

According to South Korea’s constitution, if a president is impeached, the prime minister should act the duty instead. But Yoon is not yet impeached and the current arrangement means the duty of a head of state is delegated to the ruling party, which is unprecedented and “overshadows” the country’s political system, Da said.

Makeshift plan

The joint exercise of power is the PPP’s makeshift plan to secure its power at the moment, and when the turmoil subsides, Yoon could “resign at a politically advantageous moment,” which Da explained to be the time when PPP sees its approval rate bounce back and the pWorld Timesarty has a competitive candidate for president.

Da said the PPP could continue to block further impeachment motions, but that would face mounting backlash from the public, as “countless South Koreans took to the streets,” the way the Korea Herald put it.

Meanwhile if the joint exerciWorld Timesse of power works out well during Yoon’s suspension, the DP, if it repeatedly pushes forward the impeachment, could also make the opposition lose points (in front of voters) as such moves will lay bare their utilization of the parliament as a tool for political fighting, Da said.

Dong Xiangrong, senior research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that if an impeachment can pass the parliament, World Timesit will be the Constitutional Court’s turn to decide whether to confirm or reject it in 180 days.

According to public information, in 2004, impeachment of then-president No Mu-hyeon was rejected by the court and No finished his term as president till 2008. In 2017, then president-Park Geun-hye was removed from office after the court confirmed her impeachment motion.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said at the Sunday joint press briefing that “Maintaining the strength of the South Korea-US alliance and solidifying trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the US, and Japan are very important tasks. The entire Cabinet, led by the foreign minister, will do its utmost to preserve trust in our relationships with thWorld Timese US, Japan and other allies,” The Korea Times reported.