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South Korea’s Opposition Urges Swift Removal of Impeached President

15 December 2024, South Korea, Seoul: The main South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, a day after the Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law declaration. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
15 December 2024, South Korea, Seoul: The main South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, a day after the Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law declaration. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
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South Korea’s Opposition Urges Swift Removal of Impeached President

15 December 2024, South Korea, Seoul: The main South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, a day after the Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law declaration. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
15 December 2024, South Korea, Seoul: The main South Korean opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly, a day after the Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched martial law declaration. Photo: -/YNA/dpa

South Korea's opposition leader urged a top court on Sunday to swiftly formalize the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and ease the "suffering of the people" after his short-lived martial law decree.

Lawmakers voted on Saturday to remove Yoon from office over his "insurrectionary" suspension of civilian rule, which plunged South Korea into some of its worst political turmoil in years.

Yoon has been suspended while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo serving as interim leader.

The court has 180 days to rule on Yoon's future.

But opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Sunday urged the judges to "swiftly" remove Yoon from office.

"This is the only way to minimize national turmoil and alleviate the suffering of the people," he said.

"To hold those responsible for this absurd situation accountable and to prevent its recurrence, it is essential to uncover the truth and demand accountability."

An investigation into Yoon's inner circle over last week's martial law declaration has also rumbled on.

On Sunday, prosecutors said they were seeking an arrest warrant for the head of the Army Special Warfare Command Kwak Jong-keun, Yonhap news agency said.

Kwak is accused of sending special forces troops to the country's parliament during the failed martial law bid -- sparking a dramatic confrontation between soldiers and parliamentary staff.

And on Saturday, police arrested Yeo In-hyung, head of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, on charges including insurrection.

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World

France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
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France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)

France held a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a violent cyclone on Dec. 14, beginning in the morning on Monday with a minute of silence for the scores of residents left dead by the storm.

Cyclone Chido was the worst storm to hit Mayotte's two main islands in 90 years, and authorities have said that perhaps thousands of people may have been killed in its wake, though the government's death toll stands at 35.

To commemorate Mayotte's losses, French flags were lowered to half-mast. Separately, flags were flown at half-mast in Brussels and Strasbourg because of Mayotte, as well as following attacks last week on a German Christmas market and in a Croatian school.

"It is a communion in mourning," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told reporters. He said the day showed solidarity for those in Mayotte, and that France was "present to reconstruct Mayotte and make sure the people of Mayotte feel surrounded by the entire country."

Following the storm, officials say corpses may have been buried quickly per religious custom, before they could be counted, and that many of the people killed may have been undocumented immigrants.

Mozambique has said 94 people died in the disaster, while 13 were killed in neighboring Malawi.

ANGER

The slow pace of aid and delays in the arrival of clean water have angered residents of Mayotte, France's poorest overseas territory located between Madagascar and Mozambique about 8,000 km (4971 miles) from the mainland, with some heckling President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week.

For Mohamed Abdou, a doctor in Pamandzi, the day of French mourning was a political stunt and did not do enough to account for historic neglect leading up to this point.

"Whether in terms of hospitals, the lack of water infrastructure, electricity, and so on ... at this point, we need to say 'mea culpa' and acknowledge mistakes were made," he told Reuters, speaking from his town in the south of Mayotte's smaller island.

Francois-Noel Buffet, France's acting minister of overseas territories, told France 2 that water - a flashpoint even before the disaster - had made it to the island, saying: "We are not missing water. We have water, notably bottled water. We have a problem with distribution."

Buffet said he expected a special law on the reconstruction of Mayotte to be introduced in early January.

In Paris, Bayrou, France's fourth prime minister this year, is expected to unveil his cabinet Monday evening, though the timing was uncertain. The French presidency said the announcement would not take place before 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), to take into account the day of mourning.

Estelle Youssouffa, a lawmaker for Mayotte, criticized the government in an interview with Radio France Internationale for possibly making the announcement on the day of mourning, accusing Bayrou, who had not yet visited the islands, of "humiliating us a second time."