Day: December 27, 2024

The Parliament of South Korea has supported the impeachment of the acting president. The current Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, held this position, informs Yonhap.

National Assembly decision

On Friday, December 27, the National Assembly of South Korea voted to impeach the acting president, Han Duck-soo. He had held this position for about two weeks after President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for declaring martial law.

The impeachment proposal against Han was unanimously approved with 192 votes.

The opposition Democratic Party of South Korea initiated Han’s impeachment after he refused to appoint additional judges to the Constitutional Court, which is set to decide on the impeachment of the previous president.

The opposition also cited Han’s involvement in declaring martial law and his refusal to disclose two special prosecutor bills targeting Yoon Suk Yeol and the First Lady as reasons for the impeachment.

It is noted that Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho will now serve as the acting president.

Political crisis in South Korea

On December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. The reasons for this were not military threats but the internal political situation.

He later revoked the martial law, but this marked the beginning of a political crisis. Law enforcement began investigating the president, and Parliament voted to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol. The Constitutional Court is now reviewing the president’s impeachment.

In the interim, the country was led by the Prime Minister, who has now also been impeached.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia in 2025. He has met with Vladimir Putin multiple times since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.

“What can be said that is no secret, in terms of priority, is that the chairman of the People’s Republic of China is expected in Russia next year,” Morgulov told Russia’s state agency RIA Novosti.

Putin visited China in February 2022, proclaiming a “no-limits” partnership just days before invading Ukraine. Xi Jinping made a state visit to Moscow in March 2023, marking his first international trip after being reelected for a third term.

Putin returned to Beijing in May last year after his reelection, declaring a “new era” of relations focused on countering US policies.

Morgulov also told RIA Novosti that China, which has refrained from condemning Russia’s 34-month war against Ukraine, understands the roots of the conflict “as much as they are coming up against many of the same challenges — the U.S. and its allies are boosting pressure on China in the Asia-Pacific region.”

According to him, NATO is allegedly “developing plans to relocate its military infrastructure” to the region. He stated that Russia and China must jointly respond to US policies.

“In the international arena, it is up to our countries to respond further with a ‘dual counter-action’ to the ‘dual deterrence’ which the West is trying to pursue with regard to Russia and China,” Morgulov said.

According to a survey by the Rating group, in February 2024, China moved into the category of unfriendly countries: 58% of Ukrainians consider China hostile.

Only 22% of Ukrainians trust China as a mediator in possible negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.