March 17, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea appears to be on edge with politicians urged to respect the upcoming ruling from the Constitutional Court amid intensifying protests over the weekend. The court is likely to hand down its verdict on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment this week.
The ruling People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong on Sunday said that the party would accept the Constitutional Court’s final verdict to determine the fate of President Yoon Suk Yeol, regardless of whether the outcome is favorable to the ruling party or not.
“Our party’s official stance is that it will respect the Constitutional Court’s final verdict, in line with the President’s intention to do so as exhibited during his final remarks at the impeachment trial,” Kweon told a press conference Sunday at the National Assembly, when answering a reporter’s question.
The remarks came amid speculations that some ruling party lawmakers have “individually” ramped up pressure on the Constitutional Court, urging pro-Yoon protesters to sabotage the court should it uphold the impeachment motion.
When asked what he thought of ruling party lawmakers’ participation in pro-Yoon rallies and their controversial remarks denoting a refusal to respect the court’s decision, Kweon said he does not think it is “desirable to control each individual lawmaker over their remarks.”
Former liberal lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan on his social media on Sunday proposed a joint press conference of the leaders after the impeachment ruling in a show of bipartisanship. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the ruling party called on rival parties to jointly express their bid to respect the ruling before the impeachment verdict, saying that failure to do so could trigger violence among the public.
Protesters demanding that the court overturn Yoon’s impeachment rallied Sunday near the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Some 6,000 were estimated to have rallied near Gwanghwamun Square Sunday, at a protest organized by far-right pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, according to police. Other groups of conservative protesters opposing Yoon’s impeachment and calling for South Korea’s nuclear armament marched from Jonggak Station in central Seoul to a location a block away from the Constitutional Court.
The far-right, Christian-based Liberty Unification Party, also held a protest near the official presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
On Saturday, some 43,000 in Seoul according to an unofficial police estimate were reported to have gathered at Gwanghwamun, Yeouido and near the Constitutional Court combined, although organizers said it was over 3 million.
Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party, such as Reps. Park Dae-chul, Na Kyung-won, Jang Dong-hyeok and Yoon Sang-hyun, participated in rallies held in and outside of Seoul over the weekend.
On Wednesday, 82 People Power Party lawmakers filed a petition demanding that the Constitutional Court dismiss the motion to impeach Yoon, in a follow-up of a previous petition on March 1.
Those supportive of Yoon’s botched Dec. 3 martial law declaration have branded protests calling for Yoon’s removal as ones instigated by “anti-state forces.” According to a statement by Yoon’s legal team on Sunday, rallies calling for Yoon’s removal have been largely motivated by labor unions that it claims are involved in “anti-state” activities.
On the other hand, members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea joined people rallying for Yoon’s impeachment by marching some 8.7 kilometers from the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, to near Gwanghwamun, crossing the Han River via Mapo Bridge.
The march was the fifth consecutive one in five days since Wednesday, calling on the Constitutional Court to uphold the parliament’s motion to impeach Yoon.
Rep. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party, urged the Constitutional Court to swiftly hand down its verdict to remove Yoon from office as he led the march Sunday, saying that social anxiety and confusion, as well as the damage to the economy, are growing the longer the ruling is delayed.
This march followed a mass rally in front of Gwanghwamun, the main and largest gate of Gyeongbokgung. While police estimate some 42,500 protesters gathered in front of the gate calling for Yoon’s removal, the Democratic Party estimated that some 1 million people rallied there Saturday, after consecutive daily protests the previous week.
In the view of the main opposition, a ruling rejecting the motion to impeach Yoon would signal that martial law can be imposed to silence a president’s critics. Dismissing the impeachment would “turn South Korea into a living hell,” floor leader Park said Saturday.
The opposition blamed Yoon for the US Department of Energy’s designation of South Korea as a “sensitive” country shortly before former US President Joe Biden left the White House. Rep. Jo Seoung-lae of the Democratic Party said Sunday that it was the result of Yoon “abandoning allies for a coup d’etat.”
In the meantime, the rival parties have been struggling to narrow their differences in terms of policy agenda, amid the ongoing political turmoil and leadership vacuum.
Since February, the rival parties have been at odds over a range of issues such as semiconductor researchers’ workweek exemption and plans to allocate the proposed extraordinary budget.
There is, however, a sign of bipartisan compromise over one policy matter. On Saturday, Rep. Jin Sung-joon, policy chief of the Democratic Party, said the party would concede to the ruling party’s proposal to increase the income replacement ratio by 3 percentage points to 43 percent as part of pension reform.
Lawmakers’ participation in the rallies has triggered criticism from some other lawmakers.
“South Korea has already been suffering from extreme political bipolarization, even before lawmakers took to the streets to cater to hard-line supporters,” minor conservative New Reform Party’s lawmaker Rep. Chun Ha-ram said in a party meeting on Thursday. According to him, “the National Assembly is where a lawmaker is supposed to be.”