March 12, 2025
SEOUL – The Democratic Party of Korea is going all out to call for Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal, with some lawmakers going on hunger strike or shaving their heads to urge the Constitutional Court to uphold the suspended president’s impeachment.
After the court released Yoon from detention Saturday, the Democratic Party has gone into “nonstop protest” mode, taking to the streets of central Seoul to hold rallies daily. The party’s lawmakers have also begun taking turns participating in a hunger strike as well as holding head-shaving ceremonies.
The Democratic Party said Tuesday that it was the duty of the Constitutional Court ― which is due to make its call on whether to uphold the National Assembly’s Dec. 14 impeachment of Yoon ― to “allow the country to put the unrest behind” by removing the president from office.
“The Constitutional Court, as the last bastion of the Constitution and democracy, has a responsibility to clean up the mess in a way that minimizes chaos and harm to the country,” Rep. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party’s floor leader, said.
The court’s decision to release Yoon came as a shock to the Democratic Party, which is counting on the impeachment verdict to come through as early as possible.
The Democratic Party worries that the Constitutional Court may drag out the process until a ruling in one of the legal cases of party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung is issued ― risking barring the opposition chief from running in the probable early presidential election.
The Democratic Party has announced that all of its 170 lawmakers would be “protesting full-time” until the Constitutional Court’s verdict on Yoon is reached.
The Democratic Party also said it would file an impeachment motion against Shim Woo-jung, the prosecutor general, for not appealing the court’s decision to cancel Yoon’s detention warrant.
If the Democratic Party files an impeachment motion for Shim, it would be the 30th impeachment motion pushed by the party since Yoon took office in May 2022.
The People Power Party said South Korea was paying an “extortionate price” for the Democratic Party’s serial impeachment.
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the People Power Party’s floor leader, said the economic costs caused by suspending high-level officials “could amount to trillions of won.” “We strongly urge the Democratic Party to return to the path of serving people, and put an end to the pointless impeachment spree,” he said.
Kweon also argued that the main opposition party’s rationale for impeaching the prosecutor general was poorly supported.
“It is the court that accepted President Yoon’s request to revoke his detention. If the Democratic Party is not happy with the court’s decision, why is the party attacking the prosecutor general?” the People Power Party floor leader questioned.
Kweon claimed that Lee, the Democratic Party leader who is a defendant in five ongoing criminal trials, was trying not to offend the court and instead going after the prosecution service.