Seoul:

South Korea’s opposition leader on Sunday urged the Constitutional Court to speed up the process of formalizing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol to ease the “suffering of the people” after his brief martial law decree. President Yoon was removed from office by lawmakers on Saturday over his “insurrectionary” suspension of civilian rule, which plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into one of the worst political turmoil in years.

After Saturday’s vote, Mr. Yoon was suspended, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo acting in the interim. In a further attempt to stabilize the country’s leadership, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) announced that it would not seek to impeach Mr Han for his involvement in Mr Yoon’s decision of 3 December relating to martial law.

What is happening in South Korea right now?

South Korea’s technocratic Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has taken over as interim leader, took steps Sunday to reassure the country’s allies and calm financial markets. In his first address to the nation as interim president, Han pledged to “ensure stable governance.”

“I will devote all my strength and efforts to ensure stable governance,” the career bureaucrat said.

He also spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden. “South Korea will carry out its foreign and security policies without interruption and strive to ensure the continued maintenance and development of the South Korea-US alliance,” Han told Mr. Biden, according to a statement from his office.

According to the statement, Biden told Han that the ironclad alliance between the United States and South Korea remains unchanged and that Washington will work with Seoul to further develop and strengthen the alliance and cooperation. trilateral including neighboring Japan.

According to the White House statement, the US president “expressed appreciation for the resilience of democracy and the rule of law in the Republic of Korea and reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to the people of the Republic of Korea.” Republic of Korea.”

“President Biden expressed confidence that the Alliance will remain the pillar of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region during Acting President Han’s tenure,” the statement added.

Han also convened his cabinet and the National Security Council shortly after Saturday’s impeachment vote and pledged to maintain military readiness to prevent any violation of national security.

The 75-year-old interim leader will rule the country for up to eight months, depending on how long the court deliberates on the impeachment motion and what it decides to do.

When will the new government be formed?

After losing the impeachment vote, Mr. Yoon was suspended from office. The country’s highest court has 180 days to rule on its future.

In its latest deliberation involving former President Park Geun-hye – who was impeached by Parliament over allegations of corruption and incompetence – the Constitutional Court took 92 days to consider the motion and remove her from office.

The court would need six votes in favor of impeachment from its nine members. However, with three seats vacant due to disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties, the court must vote unanimously to uphold the impeachment motion or fill the vacancies in the coming weeks.

If the court upholds Mr. Yoon’s impeachment, snap elections will be held within 60 days. And unlike traditional elections, there will be no 60-day transition period for the president-elect, with the winner being sworn in the day after the vote.

Who could be the next president of South Korea?

Analysts say Lee Jae-myung, head of the main opposition Democratic Party, is the clear favorite for the presidency.

“Lee demonstrated strong leadership during the turbulent days following the declaration of martial law and played a key role in passing the impeachment motion,” said lawyer and political columnist Yoo Jung-hoon, according to AFP.

Mr Lee came from humble beginnings as a “factory boy” and teenager who dropped out of school to support his family. He leveraged his rags-to-riches story to build a political celebrity. In the 2022 election, he lost to Mr. Yoon by the narrowest vote margin in South Korea’s electoral history, by about 0.7 percent.

But his bid for the presidency was overshadowed by a series of scandals, including a November court ruling finding him guilty of electoral law violations, earning him a suspended sentence. If the verdict is upheld, it would strip him of his eligibility to run for office.

From Mr. Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, party chief Han Dong-hoon and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon are seen as potential contenders.