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Agence France-Presse

North Korean state media on Monday decried South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol as a “ringleader of rebellion”, its first reaction to his removal from office over a short-lived martial law decree.
Pyongyang has been relatively tight-lipped over South Korea’s political turmoil, which culminated on Saturday with the country’s parliament voting to impeach him over “insurrection”.
Yoon has been suspended while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates the impeachment, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo serving as interim leader.
As of Saturday, the court had 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
The court’s acting head, Moon Hyung-bae, said he would convene a meeting of its judges on Monday to plan a timetable for the case.

Also on Monday, Pyongyang’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Yoon had attempted to shift responsibility for the “foolish emergency martial law declaration” onto opposition parties.
“The investigation into puppet Yoon Suk-yeol, the ringleader of the rebellion, and his accomplices is under way,” KCNA said.
“The puppet Constitutional Court will finally decide” on whether to remove Yoon, it added.
North Korean state media often refers to the South’s leaders and institutions as being a “puppet” of its treaty ally, the United States.
KCNA previously described the South as being “in chaos” over the martial law order.


Relations between the two Koreas have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles in violation of UN sanctions.
An investigation into Yoon and his inner circle over this month’s martial law declaration rumbled on as the turmoil deepened. Yoon remains under a travel ban while the probe is ongoing.
On Sunday, the prosecution said in a press release they had summoned Yoon for questioning over insurrection allegations “but he refused to comply”.
They said they would issue a “second summons”, with Yonhap news agency reporting that could come on Monday.
Vast protests both for and against Yoon have rocked the South Korean capital since the December 3 martial law decree.

Demonstrators in both camps have vowed to keep up the pressure campaign as the Constitutional Court mulls Yoon’s fate.
On Sunday, police arrested both the current and former heads of the Defence Intelligence Command in connection to the insurrection allegations, Yonhap reported.
Prosecutors said they were also seeking an arrest warrant for the head of the Army Special Warfare Command Kwak Jong-keun, according to Yonhap.
Kwak is accused of sending special forces troops to parliament during the martial law bid – sparking a dramatic confrontation between soldiers and parliamentary staff.
The head of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party, who has not been linked to the martial law bid and expressed support for impeachment, said on Monday he would resign.

“I sincerely apologise to all the people who have suffered due to the emergency martial law incident,” Han Dong-hoon told a news conference in Seoul.
The South Korean government has meanwhile sought to project an air of business as usual.
Acting president Han on Sunday held a call with US President Joe Biden, who emphasised the strength of bilateral ties.
Han has also ordered the military to “enhance vigilance” against North Korea, with which the South technically remains at war.


China should seize the moment to promote peace on Korean peninsula

North Korean state media relishes ‘foolish’ Yoon’s downfall

Russia using ‘significant number’ of North Korean troops to storm Kursk, Ukraine says

Seoul must stop using North Korea threat as an excuse to suppress democracy

North Korea

A composite image shows North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol. Photo: AFP/Reuters

South Korean justice Moon Hyung-bae arrives at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Monday. Photo: AFP

Protesters rally in Seoul on Sunday calling for Yoon’s arrest. Photo: AP

Han Dong-hoon bows during a press conference on Thursday. He resigned as the ruling People Power Party’s leader on Monday. Photo: Yonhap / AFP

South Korean President Yoon impeached over martial law debacle

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol bows while giving a public address from his official residence in Seoul on Saturday. Yoon said he would “step aside” after parliament had voted to remove him from office. Photo: South Korean Presidential Office via Yonhap / AFP

A protester wearing a mask of President Yoon performs before a rally in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: AP

Pro-Yoon supporters at a rally in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

South Korea’s Yoon used decoys for work, police head says amid hangover allegations

Protesters participate in a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Protesters hold up a banner showing a caricature of President Yoon in front of the People Power Party headquarters in Seoul on December 13. Photo: AP

US-North Korea relations: could a Trump-Kim summit be on the cards again?

US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un talk before a meeting in June 2019 in Panmunjom. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS

Alex Nelson Wong, Trump’s nominee for deputy national security adviser. Photo: Hudson Institute

Trump shakes hands with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in June 2019. Photo: AFP

A North Korean flag flies over the country’s embassy in Moscow. Photo: AFP

Putin and Kim attend an official welcome ceremony in Pyongyang for the Russian leader in June. Photo: Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

South Korea’s Yoon faces allegations of plotting to provoke Pyongyang for martial law

TV screens show footage of an address by South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, at an electronic market in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: AFP

A photo released by North Korean state media last month reportedly showing leaflets scattered by South Korea in areas near the border. Photo: AFP

Protesters calling for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

East Asia

Pyongyang’s state-run media gleefully eviscerated South Korea’s impeached president on Monday over his failed martial law decree


Pyongyang’s state-run media gleefully eviscerated South Korea’s impeached president on Monday over his failed martial law decree.


Yoon Suk-yeol

South Korea

Protests around the world