Who would accept ‘Yoon’s orderly retreat’?
Published: 10 Dec. 2024, 19:57
The governing People Power Party (PPP) has presented a road map for “an orderly retreat” of President Yoon Suk Yeol after his abrupt declaration of emergency martial law last Tuesday. The plan aims to oust the president between February and March and hold a presidential election in April or May, approximately two years ahead of the next election slated for March 2027.
But the blueprint has many loopholes. First, it can only be realized when the president remains in a vegetative state for the next three to four months and then steps down. Even if the president accepts the plan, controversy over its legitimacy is unavoidable. The Ministry of National Defense maintains the position that the president still has the authority to command the military — despite the suspicion of plotting a rebellion against the state by sending special forces to the National Assembly.
The “orderly retreat of the president” — proposed by PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo — can hardly convince the international community. After U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg wondered if such a quick fix is really compatible with our Constitution, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stressed, “The political process in Korea will play out, as it should, under Korea’s laws and Korea’s Constitution.”
Some political analysts assume that the president will be automatically stripped of power if he is brought to justice, as the law enforcement authorities are speeding up their investigations of the president “under the suspicion of orchestrating a rebellion.” But there’s no ruling on the suspension of the presidency of an incumbent head of state in our modern history. Confusion will certainly deepen if the president wants to authorize government documents while in prison — regardless of the argument for Prime Minister Han replacing the president. But the prime minister himself faces investigations by the police, as he is not free from the responsibility for not opposing martial law at a Cabinet meeting.
However, impeachment is a different story. If the president is impeached by the legislature, he will be immediately suspended from his active duty and his political fate will be decided in three months, as seen in the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2016. That’s why two first-term lawmakers of the PPP said they will vote on the second impeachment motion on Saturday.
Would the president step down just like some PPP lawmakers claimed? Questions still remain over whether he would voluntarily resign, given his radical decision to dispatch special forces to the Assembly to remove his political enemies. Yoon would rather hope for the Constitutional Court’s rejection of the impeachment by the legislature.
The half-baked road map for the president’s orderly retreat is not convincing. Amid all the internal fights in the PPP, pro-Yoon and pro-Han factions are competing to grab the floor leader seat. The PPP must recognize that suspending the president from his job through an impeachment can help ensure an orderly retreat of the president. They must find a way out for the president within the boundaries of the Constitution.
But the blueprint has many loopholes. First, it can only be realized when the president remains in a vegetative state for the next three to four months and then steps down. Even if the president accepts the plan, controversy over its legitimacy is unavoidable. The Ministry of National Defense maintains the position that the president still has the authority to command the military — despite the suspicion of plotting a rebellion against the state by sending special forces to the National Assembly.
The “orderly retreat of the president” — proposed by PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo — can hardly convince the international community. After U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg wondered if such a quick fix is really compatible with our Constitution, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stressed, “The political process in Korea will play out, as it should, under Korea’s laws and Korea’s Constitution.”
Some political analysts assume that the president will be automatically stripped of power if he is brought to justice, as the law enforcement authorities are speeding up their investigations of the president “under the suspicion of orchestrating a rebellion.” But there’s no ruling on the suspension of the presidency of an incumbent head of state in our modern history. Confusion will certainly deepen if the president wants to authorize government documents while in prison — regardless of the argument for Prime Minister Han replacing the president. But the prime minister himself faces investigations by the police, as he is not free from the responsibility for not opposing martial law at a Cabinet meeting.
However, impeachment is a different story. If the president is impeached by the legislature, he will be immediately suspended from his active duty and his political fate will be decided in three months, as seen in the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2016. That’s why two first-term lawmakers of the PPP said they will vote on the second impeachment motion on Saturday.
Would the president step down just like some PPP lawmakers claimed? Questions still remain over whether he would voluntarily resign, given his radical decision to dispatch special forces to the Assembly to remove his political enemies. Yoon would rather hope for the Constitutional Court’s rejection of the impeachment by the legislature.
The half-baked road map for the president’s orderly retreat is not convincing. Amid all the internal fights in the PPP, pro-Yoon and pro-Han factions are competing to grab the floor leader seat. The PPP must recognize that suspending the president from his job through an impeachment can help ensure an orderly retreat of the president. They must find a way out for the president within the boundaries of the Constitution.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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