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
TT

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.



At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
TT

At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)

Local Afghans and the Pakistani Taliban said Wednesday that civilians, including women and children, were killed after Pakistan launched rare airstrikes inside neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday's operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in the province of Paktika, bordering Afghanistan.
Residents in the area told an AP reporter over the phone that at least 13 people were left dead, adding that the death toll could be higher. They also said the wounded were transported to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed that 50 people, including 27 women and children, have died in the strikes.
Pakistan has not commented on the strikes. However, on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said security forces killed 13 insurgents in an overnight intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a district located along eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province.
The strikes are likely to further spike tensions between the two countries. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban government denounced the attack, saying on Tuesday that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region and promising retaliation.
The TTP is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
In March, Pakistan said intelligence-based strikes took place in the border regions inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has seen innumerable militant attacks in the past two decades but there has been an uptick in recent months. The latest was this weekend when at least 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed when TTP attacked a checkpoint in the country’s northwest.
Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of not doing enough to combat militant activity across the shared border, a charge the Afghan Taliban government denies, saying it does not allow anyone to carry out attacks against any country.