SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� South Korea鈥檚 opposition leader offered Sunday to work with the government to ease the as officials sought to reassure allies and markets, a day after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to conservative President over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
Liberal Democratic Party leader whose party holds a majority in the National Assembly, urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on Yoon's impeachment and proposed a special council for policy cooperation between the government and parliament.
Yoon's powers have been suspended until the court decides whether to remove him from office or reinstate him. If Yoon is dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
Lee, who has led a fierce political offensive against Yoon's embattled government, is seen as the frontrunner to replace him. He lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by a razor-thin margin.
He told a televised news conference that a swift court ruling would be the only way to 鈥渕inimize national confusion and the suffering of people.鈥�
The court will meet to discuss the case Monday, and has up to 180 days to rule. But observers say that a court ruling could come faster. In the case of parliamentary impeachments of past presidents 鈥� Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and in 2016 鈥� the court spent 63 days and 91 days respectively before determining to reinstate Roh and dismiss Park.
Lee also proposed a national council where the government and the National Assembly would work together to stabilize state affairs, and said his party won't seek to impeach Prime Minister , a Yoon appointee who's now serving as acting president.
鈥淭he Democratic Party will actively cooperate with all parties to stabilize state affairs and restore international trust,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淭he National Assembly and government will work together to quickly resolve the crisis that has swept across the Republic of Korea.鈥�
It's unclear if Lee's proposed council will be realized.
In a meeting with the parliament speaker, who touched upon Lee's idea, Han said he will closely cooperate and communicate with the National Assembly but didn't specifically say whether the government intends to join the council. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, separately criticized Lee's proposal, saying that it鈥檚 鈥渘ot right鈥� for the opposition party acting like the ruling party.
Kweon, a Yoon loyalist, said that his party will use existing PPP-government dialogue channels "to continue to assume responsibility as the governing party until the end of President Yoon鈥檚 term.鈥�
The Democratic Party has already used its parliamentary majority to impeach the justice minister and the chief of the national police over the martial law decree, and had previously said it was also considering impeaching the prime minister.
Upon assuming his role as acting leader, Han ordered the military to bolster its security posture to prevent North Korea from launching provocations. He also asked the foreign minister to inform other countries that South Korea鈥檚 major external policies will remain unchanged, and the finance minister to work to minimize potential negative impacts on the economy from the political turmoil.
On Sunday, Han had a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, discussing the political situation in South Korea and regional security challenges including North Korea鈥檚 nuclear program. Biden expressed his appreciation for the resiliency of democracy in South Korea and reaffirmed 鈥渢he ironclad commitment鈥� of the United States, according to both governments.
Yoon鈥檚 Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, in more than four decades, lasted only six hours, but has caused halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets. Yoon was forced to after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.
Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament in an effort to stop the vote, but they withdrew after the parliament rejected Yoon鈥檚 decree. No major violence occurred.
Opposition parties have accused Yoon of rebellion, saying a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and would have no right to suspend parliament鈥檚 operations even in those cases.
the charges and vowed to 鈥渇ight to the end." He said the deployment of troops to parliament was aimed at issuing a warning to the Democratic Party, which he called an 鈥渁nti-state force鈥� that abused its control of parliament by holding up the government鈥檚 budget bill for next year and repeatedly pushing to impeach top officials.
Law enforcement institutions are investigating Yoon and others involved in the martial law case over possible rebellion and other allegations. They've arrested Yoon's and police chief and two other high-level figures.
Yoon has immunity from most criminal prosecution as president, but that doesn鈥檛 extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. He's been banned from leaving South Korea, but observers doubt that authorities will detain him because of the potential for clashes with his presidential security service.
South Korean media reported that prosecutors asked Yoon to appear at a prosecution office for questioning on Sunday but he refused to do so. The reports said prosecutors plan to ask him to appear again. Repeated calls to a prosecutors鈥� office in Seoul were unanswered.
Lee called for authorities to speed up their probes and said that an independent investigation by a special prosecutor should be launched as soon as possible. Last week, the National Assembly passed a law calling for such an investigation.
Hyung-jin Kim And Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press
