South Korea arrests president, but crisis is far from over; understand the dispute

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law last month created South Korea’s biggest constitutional crisis since the country democratized in the late 1980s.

On Wednesday, Yoon became the first sitting South Korean leader to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators, who want to question him over his December 3 decision to place the country under military rule for the first time in 45 years. .

His martial law decree lasted only six hours. But it threw South Korea’s democracy into chaos and sparked public outrage, recalling the country’s painful history under military dictatorship decades ago. He was removed from office by parliament on December 14, but uncertainty over the country’s political future has only deepened since then.

Here’s how the crisis unfolded.

What are the criminal charges against the president?

Yoon, a deeply unpopular leader, has been banned from leaving the country while police and prosecutors investigate whether he and his supporters in the government and military committed insurrection by sending armed troops to the National Assembly.

Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, who led a special forces unit sent to the assembly, said he was ordered to forcibly remove lawmakers to prevent 150 of them — the number needed to repeal martial law — from meeting.

South Korea’s criminal law defines insurrection as any attempt to “overthrow government bodies established by the constitution or make the exercise of their functions impossible by force.”

Now that they have detained Yoon, investigators can interrogate him for 48 hours. They could then apply for a separate court warrant if they wanted to formally arrest him.

If Yoon is convicted of insurrection and the court determines he was primarily responsible, he could face the death penalty or life in prison. Prosecutors arrested his former defense minister and two former police chiefs on charges of helping to carry out an insurrection.

Why was Yoon removed?

In the impeachment bill, opposition lawmakers argued that Yoon committed insurrection by declaring martial law and sending troops to the National Assembly. They said this was an attempt to prevent lawmakers from rejecting the decree, as was their right under the constitution.

An initial impeachment vote on December 7 failed after lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party boycotted the vote, claiming he should be given the chance to resign.

A week later, 12 lawmakers from Yoon’s party joined the opposition to impeach him.

Now, his fate as president is in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating whether to remove or reinstate him. Court deliberations can take up to six months.

Why did Yoon do this?

Yoon said he declared martial law out of “desperation” in the face of an opposition that used its parliamentary majority to “paralyze” his government. Yoon criticized the opposition for cutting some of his government’s budgets planned for next year, as well as its frequent attempts to remove its political appointees.

But such complaints cannot be grounds for declaring martial law, Kim Young Hoon, president of the Korean Bar Association, told The New York Times. Yoon also did not immediately notify the National Assembly of his declaration of martial law as required by law, according to the assembly.

“It is clear that President Yoon’s declaration of martial law did not meet the requirements set by the Constitution,” Kim said.

Cho Ji-ho, head of the National Police Agency, told the assembly on December 9 that when martial law was briefly in effect, the army asked the police to help it locate and detain 15 people, including the leaders of the largest political parties.

Even during martial law, however, the president does not have the right to detain lawmakers unless they are caught committing a crime.

Who’s in charge now?

Choi Sang-mok, the Finance Minister, was named the new interim president on December 27.

Choi is not an elected official. He is leading South Korea without real political weight as the country faces challenges such as the growing nuclear threat from North Korea and the return of the unpredictable Donald Trump to the White House.

Choi was appointed after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had served in an interim role following Yoon’s impeachment, was also removed by lawmakers in a deadlock over the appointment of judges to the court that will decide Yoon’s fate.

Meanwhile, Yoon has vowed to fight in court to regain his power.

In a recorded speech released shortly after his impeachment, Yoon listed what he considered his achievements as president, including his efforts to strengthen military ties with the United States and Japan. Now, his efforts have been halted, he said.

“But I will never give up,” he said.

The court will decide within 180 days whether Yoon is guilty of the crimes the National Assembly accused him of and, if so, whether they are serious enough to warrant his removal. If the court formally removes him, South Korea is expected to hold elections for a new leader within two months.