South Korea proposed to revise the constitution after impeachment of the president

The Speaker of the National Assembly (Parliament) of South Korea, Woo Won-shik, at a press conference on April 6, proposed to immediately begin revising the constitution in order to limit the powers of President Yun Seok-young, citing widespread public support for this step after the impeachment.

"I would like to suggest to the people that we now quickly begin to revise the constitution <...>. After experiencing the unconstitutional and illegal martial law and the impeachment of Yun, public opinion on the need for an urgent revision of the constitution is greater than ever," the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

He proposed holding a national referendum on constitutional reform, which should coincide with the presidential elections. They should take place within two months after the "overthrow" of the president by the republican Constitutional Court.

According to Reuters, the court upheld parliament's decision to impeach Yoon Seok-young for briefly declaring martial law on December 3. It is noted that this caused the worst political crisis in South Korea in recent decades. The speaker of the parliament called the "imperial presidency" a source of extreme political conflicts and noted that many citizens want to change the regime.

According to a March Gallup Korea poll, 54% of citizens support the revision of the constitution in order to fix the presidential system. In turn, the president, despite his impeachment, said that he would "always be there" for his supporters who fought for "freedom and protection of sovereignty."

Acting President Han Dok-soo and the election commission are reviewing the date of the presidential election for June 3. The South Korean constitution was last revised in 1987 to introduce direct presidential elections and a single five-year term.

To leave and not return: The Constitutional Court of Korea approved the impeachment of the president

The country is waiting for early elections, the opposition has the highest chances.

On April 4, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea finally dismissed Yun Seok-young from the post of president.

The situation in South Korea worsened on December 3 last year after the president declared martial law, which was caused by the threat of paralysis of power that arose due to attempts to conduct impeachment proceedings. The commander of the emergency regime, Chief of Staff of the Army Pak Ahn Su noted that until the lifting of martial law, the activities of Parliament, political parties and associations are prohibited.

The head of state was arrested for 48 hours on January 15 this year. The Seoul Western District Court took the president into custody on January 19 (January 18, Moscow time). As a result, his supporters staged a pogrom. The arrest warrant for Yoon Seok-young was lifted by the court on March 6. According to Yonhap, he filed a motion in February calling the indictment for declaring martial law illegal.