The South Korean cabinet has not considered issuing bills to investigate South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol over the martial law declaration and First Lady Kim Geun-hee over corruption allegations, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“To wisely handle issues where political views and interpretations of legal principles intersect, such as bills for special investigations and the appointment of Constitutional Court judges, the ruling and opposition parties must first reach an agreement“, said South Korea's acting president, Prime Minister Han Deok-soo.
Earlier, the main opposition Toburo party, which controls the majority in parliament, requested the acting The president to approve the bills on Tuesday. Otherwise, they promised to "hold him accountable", which was interpreted as an attempt at impeachment proceedings. Han Deok-soo has the power to approve or veto bills until January 1. Meanwhile, on December 15, the chairman of the Toburo said that they would not seek impeachment of the acting president for now.
On December 12, the parliament passed a law to investigate first lady Kim Geun-hee. She is suspected of securities fraud and interference in the election process in the selection of candidates for parliament. On December 7, the bill was not passed and impeachment was not announced due to a boycott by the ruling party. On the same day, one of two bills to investigate allegations of constitutional violations against the president was passed.
On December 14, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, leading to his removal from power. The Constitutional Court must now consider the case and decide whether to uphold the lawmakers' decision or reinstate the president.
In South Korea, the president appoints the judges of the Constitutional Court, but a dispute has arisen between the ruling party and the opposition over whether the incumbent head of state can do so. From "Citizen Power" insist that the acting President can appoint a judge only after the Constitutional Court removes the head of state from power.
Yoon Suk-yeol will most likely not appear for questioning before investigators tomorrow, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, quoted by BTA, citing his lawyer.
A joint investigation team, consisting of representatives of the police, the High-Level Corruption Investigation Service and investigators from the Ministry of Defense, summoned Yoon for questioning last Wednesday, but he did not appear then, the South Korean agency specified.
Yoon's lawyer, Seok Dong-hyun, said today that his client attaches paramount importance to the Constitutional Court's procedure regarding his impeachment. According to the lawyer, the former head of state plans to issue a statement on his position on this case after Christmas.