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South Korea Impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol Over Martial-Law Decision

Story by Jiyoung Sohn, Timothy W. Martin, Josh Chin

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SEOUL—South Korea’s legislature impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his decision to briefly institute martial law, kick-starting a monthslong process to potentially select a new leader following one of the nation’s most tumultuous chapters in recent years.

Needing a two-thirds majority, lawmakers voted 204 to 85 to impeach Yoon, who will immediately be stripped of his presidential powers. Three abstained, while eight cast invalid votes. A vote last weekend to impeach the conservative president failed. The country’s prime minister, Han Duck-soo, a Harvard-educated former ambassador to the U.S., will serve as acting president in the interim.

In a pre-recorded television address after Saturday’s vote, Yoon accepted that his time as president has been paused and expressed frustration that his past efforts “may have been in vain.” He called on everyone to “unite under the leadership of the acting president” and to work together to prioritize the people’s safety and happiness.

“While I may be stopping briefly, the journey toward the future that we have walked together for the past two-and-a-half years must never come to a halt,” said Yoon, whose five-year term ends in 2027. He cannot run for reelection by law.

Yoon won’t be removed from office until South Korea’s constitutional court reviews and certifies the impeachment vote. The court has up to six months to do so, though it has ruled far more quickly than that on impeachment cases before. If upheld, a snap election would occur within 60 days.

The clear front-runner in a snap election is Lee Jae-myung, Yoon’s archnemesis and head of the left-leaning Democratic Party who led the push to impeach the president. One recent poll put Lee’s support at 52%, with the top conservative at about 10%. Lee would bring a different flavor to South Korea’s foreign policy: He would seek engagement with North Korea, more independence from the U.S., balance with China and a tougher line with Japan.

After Yoon took office in 2022 from a left-leaning predecessor, Seoul revived diplomacy with Tokyo, established deeper ties with the Biden administration and created unprecedented military coordination between the U.S., Japan and South Korea—such as last year’s move knitting together their missile-radar systems for the first time. Yoon has also taken a confrontational stance with the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arguing peace is achieved through strength.

A week ago, lawmakers from Yoon’s ruling People Power Party walked out before an impeachment vote could take place, leaving the opposition shy of a 200-vote quorum. Since then, pressure mounted on Yoon, who had become increasingly defiant, vowing to “fight until the end” in a prerecorded Thursday address. But this Saturday, at least 12 members of Yoon’s own party supported the opposition’s motion to impeach him. The opposition controls 192 votes inside South Korea’s unicameral, 300-seat legislature.

“The people have shown that they are the ones who own this country,” Lee told supporters after the vote. “We’ve overcome one small obstacle, but bigger and more challenging ones await us.”

Yoon said he had made his martial-law decree on Dec. 3 out of desperation and to alert the public to a “disastrous crisis” unfolding in the country. He also accused the opposition of political chicanery, from blocking legislation to impeaching top officials. He accused his political enemies of making South Korea vulnerable to North Korean “communist forces.”

More than 90% of South Koreans wanted to see Yoon removed, according to polling released days before Saturday’s vote. According to a poll released Friday, Yoon’s approval plummeted to a new low of 11%.

Outside the National Assembly building in central Seoul, around 200,000 protesters had gathered, according to a police estimate, roughly doubling the turnout from the prior week. Phone service there was disrupted due to the crowd size. Regular subway service to the area was briefly suspended.

Lee Hye-joo, 24, took a two-hour train ride with friends to partake in the demonstrations against Yoon, waving star-shaped glow sticks as news of the impeachment vote flashed onto a jumbotron screen. She called the vote a result of the country’s strong democracy.

“I don’t think the Constitutional Court will be able to reject the vote because citizens have a great desire for impeachment,” said Lee, who is studying political science at a university in the city of Daejeon.

Na Jung-hwan and his wife brought their 5-year-old son to be a part of history, bearing the frigid weather with other South Koreans. They held LED candles, recalling the imagery of the country’s so-called “candlelight revolution” that helped spur the impeachment, then ouster in 2017, of conservative former President Park Geun-hye. Na hopes Yoon gets punished accordingly by the law.

Nodding to his son sitting atop his shoulders, he said: “I don’t want something like this to happen again when my kid is all grown up.”

As the vote results were announced, the crowd erupted into cheers, with some breaking into tears. At the rally, the first song played after the vote’s outcome was “Into the New World,” a 2007 tune by Girls’ Generation, a K-pop group.

“In this world, where sadness repeats,” the song went, “Now, goodbye to sorrow.”

Inside the National Assembly building, all 300 lawmakers marked their ballots anonymously, stepping inside curtained booths. A week ago, the opposition cited a broad set of issues in their impeachment motion, such as alleged offenses by first lady Kim Keon-hee, Yoon’s foreign policy and public-polling manipulation. This time, it focused squarely on the legality of Yoon’s martial-law declaration.

“Evidence shows that the martial-law plan was premeditated, with fabricated provocations engineered to justify its declaration,” said Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, addressing fellow lawmakers moments before the vote.

Yoon has previously argued his move was not subject to the legal system, as the martial-law declaration was an act of governance.

Yoon becomes the third South Korean president to be impeached. The first instance occurred in 2004 with Roh Moo-hyun, who was accused of a relatively minor violation of election law. The court took two months to rule that the offense wasn’t sufficient to remove him from office and reinstated him. In December 2016, Park Geun-hye was impeached over an influence-peddling scandal, which the court upheld after roughly three months.

Compared with the Park case, the legal basis for impeaching Yoon appears to be more straightforward. Moreover, some sitting judges are set to vacate after their terms end next April, so a decision is likely to come by around mid-March, said Lee Jong-soo, of Yonsei University in Seoul, who specializes in South Korean constitutional law.

The timing isn’t inconsequential. Lee Jae-myung, the opposition head, has five ongoing trials, from allegations of election-law violations to perjury to breach of duty, and if convicted would be barred from running for office for up to 10 years.

The potential risk of a leadership vacuum remains over the martial-law decree. Various criminal probes are under way against Yoon and top cabinet members, including Han, who has said he would cooperate with investigators. If Han is arrested or impeached, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is also the country’s minister of economy and finance, would be next up to serve as acting president.

The 75-year-old Han convened a Saturday evening cabinet meeting to discuss the direction of state governance under the new acting presidential system. He issued emergency orders to top officials to ensure safety and minimize risks to the country’s national security, diplomacy and economy.

In a brief televised address after the cabinet meeting, Han apologized to the nation and didn’t mention Yoon by name. He vowed close contact with the U.S., Japan and other allies, and promised to establish order amid a political situation that he said had heightened anxieties across the country.

“We will strictly adhere to the constitution and laws to ensure stable governance so that the security of the nation and the daily lives of the people remain stable,” Han said.

Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com, Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com and Josh Chin at Josh.Chin@wsj.com

South Korea Impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol Over Martial-Law Decision

 

State airport funding lagging

• By GORDON JACKSON gjackson@thebrunswicknews.com

Georgia lags far behind the spending of surrounding states on capital improvements for their airports.

A study by the Georgia Airport Commission found that regional airports in Brunswick, Valdosta, Albany, Columbus, Macon, Savannah and Augusta need $83.5 million for capital improvements.

Georgia spends $2.8 million a year, with another $16 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, to support the airports.

In North Carolina, commercial airports get $89 million annually for capital projects. Tennessee airports receive $33 million a year.

Rob Burr, executive director for the Glynn County Airport Commission, served on the committee that conducted the study.

“The study was written because Georgia is not investing in airports like other states,” he said.

The Brunswick airport has the capacity to expand, which may benefit more than passengers taking daily Delta flights to Atlanta and home. Burr said expanding infrastructure at the airport could benefit air carriers and industrial services.

Federal funding does not pay for economic development, which is why the state needs to do more to support regional airports before they lag farther behind surrounding states.

“Our responsibility is to attract new services,” he said. “We have the infrastructure in place to bring industry here.”

One possible solution to close the funding gap is for Georgia to begin collecting an aviation tax on fuel dedicated to supporting airports, which is how Tennessee and North Carolina fund their airports. In Georgia, state funding for airports comes from the general fund balance.

Ralph Staffins III, president and CEO of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, said airport funding will be an issue discussed during the annual visit to meet state lawmakers in Atlanta during the General Assembly session.

“We support the airport and our airport authority,” Staffins said. “We are blessed to have that airport. Our airport is poised for growth.”

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Savannah bomb squad responds to Heartland Court

 CRIME & SAFETY

Savannah bomb squad responds to Heartland Court

by: Natasha Young, Christine Queally

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — A bomb squad was dispatched to the 100 block of Hartland Court on Tuesday.

Officers are investigating a “suspicious object,” the Savannah Police Department (SPD) said. The device was found inside a van that someone had just purchased, a neighbor said.

Chatham County Sheriff’s Department’s K9 Unit is also on the scene assisting.

The bomb squad did a controlled detonation, and officials said that the device was “suspicious enough that it caused them to take decisive action.”

Neighbors said that the substance smelled like baby powder after detonation. The substance used in the device has not been identified, officials said.

This is an ongoing investigation. Stick with WSAV for updates.

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Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ from fall on official trip to Luxembourg

By  MARY CLARE JALONICK and FARNOUSH AMIRI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hospitalized after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg, according to a spokesman.

Pelosi, 84, was in Europe with a bipartisan congressional delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Her spokesman, Ian Krager, said in a statement that she is “currently receiving excellent treatment from doctors and medical professionals” and is unable to attend the remainder of events on her trip.

He did not describe the nature of her injury or give any additional details, but a person familiar with the incident said that Pelosi tripped and fell while at an event with the other members of Congress. The person requested anonymity to discuss the fall because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Krager said that Pelosi “looks forward to returning home to the U.S. soon.”

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Hinesville PD seeks ID on man involved in alleged sexual battery incident

by: Natasha Young 

HINESVILLE, Ga. (WSAV) — The Hinesville Police Department (HPD) is seeking assistance in identifying a man involved in an alleged sexual battery.

The incident occurred in the 700 block of W. Oglethorpe Hwy, HPD said.

If you know who this individual is please contact the Hinesville Police Department at 912-368-8211, option 9, message us on Facebook or submit a tip through our app.

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Stolen Fuel Card

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