The resignation of South Korea’s defense minister follows the short-term declaration of martial law and the entry into force of a Russia-North Korea security agreement.
of South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol The country has accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and nominated Choi Byung-hyuk, the country’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as the new defense minister.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the president’s office on Thursday confirmed the nomination of former army general Choi as the new defense minister.
Kim proposed to President Yoon, Yonhap said Declare martial law On Tuesday night, the move was quickly curtailed after South Korea’s parliament voted for Yoon to reverse his decision.
The nomination of a new defense minister is Yoon’s first official act since lifting the declaration of martial law early Wednesday. The retreat sent hundreds of South Korean troops, who briefly stormed the National Assembly compound in Seoul, back to their barracks.
Amid public outrage over attempts to impose martial law and opposition parties’ condemnation of Yoon, South Korea’s parliament introduced a motion to impeach the president early Thursday.
The crisis unfolded in South Korea as a mutual defense agreement between North Korea and Russia came into effect.
North Korea’s state media said on Thursday that the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement” signed in June between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came into effect on Wednesday.
The agreement includes a mutual defense agreement for immediate military assistance in the event of an armed attack by Russia or North Korea.
Chung Jin-suk, Yoon’s chief of staff, said Choi was an ideal choice for the new defense minister role as he is a retired four-star army general who has served as deputy commander of the South Korea-US Joint Forces Command since 2019. For 2020.
Choi described the defense minister as “fulfilling the military’s key responsibilities, including maintaining a firm readiness posture based on the South Korea-US alliance,” Yonhap reports.
The opposition moved to impeach Yoon
The main opposition Democratic Party has called Yun’s martial law effort an act of treason and its lawmakers may vote on impeachment on Friday.
However, Yoon’s own party has vowed to oppose efforts to remove the president, throwing the impeachment process into doubt.
The floor leader of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party said Thursday that all his lawmakers would “unite” to defeat an opposition-led motion to impeach the president.
“All 108 People Power Party lawmakers remain united in rejecting the president’s impeachment,” Choo Kyung-ho said during a livestreamed party meeting.
The opposition does not have enough votes to pass the impeachment bill in parliament and eight ruling party lawmakers need to vote with them for the initiative to succeed.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Seoul, said the political crisis in South Korea was being followed closely on the international stage given South Korea’s economic and strategic importance.
“From the US, we have messages of support from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and similar messages from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who say South Korea is one of the most powerful stories of democratic resilience,” McBride said.
“And it happens this week — we have all this turmoil in South Korea — it’s the week this military alliance between North Korea and Russia takes effect,” he said.
“So, interestingly, when you have all this turmoil south of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). North of the DMZ, North Korea is looking at all these events with this new agreement, seemingly strengthened and emboldened,” he said.
