SEOUL тАУ
South Korea’s acting president faces an impeachment vote as the Constitutional Court meets for its first hearing on Friday in the case of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and suspended from duties after declaring a short-lived martial law.
The effort to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who has been acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14, threatens to intensify the political crisis gripping Asia’s fourth-largest economy and one of its most vibrant democracies.
The unexpected martial law decree and swift political fallout shocked the nation and economic markets, unsettling key allies the United States and Europe, which had seen Yoon as a staunch partner in global efforts to counter China, Russia, and North Korea.
