Asia | Systemic failure

South Korea’s president is impeached

Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law destroyed his presidency. For the country the reckoning has just begun

Protesters attend a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul
Photograph: Reuters
|SEOUL

THE DAY of reckoning finally arrived for Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president. The country’s National Assembly voted on December 14th to impeach him for his short-lived attempt to impose martial law earlier this month. Outside the assembly, crowds of tens of thousands erupted into cheers and applause when the results were announced; demonstrators embraced and shed tears. “Into the New World”, a hit K-pop-song-turned-protest anthem, rang out from the speakers: “The end of wandering that I was longing for.”

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Systemic failure”

From the December 21st 2024 edition

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