​Korean drama: on South Korean politiics  

Over the decades, South Korea has evolved from a brutal military dictatorship to a pro-business democracy. But this journey has also been bundled with controversies involving corruption, abuse of power and political vendetta. The impeachment of the acting President, Han Duck-soo, who took charge a few days earlier following the impeachment vote against President Yoon Suk Yeol, exemplifies the vulnerabilities in the political system. Governance has been in a paralysed state ever since Mr. Yoon became President in 2022. While he won on a thin margin, the opposition Democratic Party took control of the National Assembly. Controversies and scandals followed and his approval rating tanked to below 20%. In April this year, the Democratic Party won the legislative election again, widening its lead in Parliament. As the chasm between the presidency and the opposition-controlled National Assembly widened, Mr. Yoon declared martial law earlier this month, which triggered instant protests from political quarters and the public. In a country that still keeps the dark memories of its not-so-distant military dictatorships, his move was seen as an extreme measure aimed at torpedoing its democracy. He was impeached and Prime Minister Han stepped in as the interim leader. But his tenure has also proved short-lived.

This is the first time South Korea is impeaching an interim leader. The crux of the dispute was Mr. Han’s refusal to appoint three judges to fill vacancies at the nine-member Constitutional Court. According to South Korea’s Constitution, a President will be stripped of powers as soon as they are impeached in Parliament but to remove them from office, at least six judges in the Constitutional Court should rule in favour of the impeachment. The opposition accused Mr. Han of delaying the constitutional process, while Mr. Han and the ruling People’s Power Party argued that only an elected President has the powers to sign off appointments for the Constitutional Court. This would mean that the political and constitutional crisis is expected to persist for the foreseeable future at a time when South Korea is grappling with economic woes and also security challenges from the North. A prolonged crisis and paralysis in governance could also weaken the political institutions and empower anti-democratic forces which were in power until the late 1980s. This is perhaps the deepest crisis South Korea is facing since its transition into a democracy. Its fractious political class should prioritise constitutional stability over narrow political interests. The new acting President should strive for consensus with the key parties on appointments to the Constitutional Court and expedite the impeachment proceedings against Mr. Yoon.