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U.S. flag unfurled during demonstrations in support of Yoon<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, during protests outside the residence, a supporter of Yoon in his 60s waved South Korean and U.S. flags, declaring that \u201cfreedom and democracy must be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. maintains approximately 28,000 troops in South Korea under a security pact aimed at deterring North Korea.<\/p>\n Yoon has been suspended from office since National Assembly lawmakers removed him on December 14 over the short-lived martial law he declared on December 3. The Constitutional Court has begun deliberating whether to uphold or overturn the legislative action, a process that could take up to six months.<\/p>\n The conservative former attorney general, elected to a five-year presidential term in 2022, shocked South Korea and the international community when he abruptly declared martial law in the middle of the night and ordered the military to storm the legislature.<\/p>\n Lawmakers quickly convened and voted to reject the proclamation. Yoon withdrew it early the next day. The first attempt to impeach Yoon failed on procedural grounds due to a boycott by lawmakers from Yoon\u2019s ruling People\u2019s Power Party (PPP). However, the second attempt succeeded as enough PPP members joined opposition colleagues to vote in favor.<\/p>\n The South Korean prime minister was installed as acting president, but opposition lawmakers later removed him due to disagreements over the appointment of Constitutional Court judges. Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who also serves as finance minister, is currently acting as head of state.<\/p>\n Yoon\u2019s dismissal is supported by a significant portion of the South Korean public, though his core supporters remain opposed.<\/p>\n \u201cOur economy is ruined\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n A former prosecutor general, Yoon gained prominence for leading high-profile investigations into public figures, including conservative former President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in 2017 over an influence-peddling scandal. Given Yoon\u2019s background as a prosecutor, critics in South Korea have condemned his refusal to cooperate with a legal investigation into his own conduct.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is highly contradictory for Yoon Suk Yeol, a former chief prosecutor, to lead the obstruction of justice,\u201d the left-leaning Kyunghyang Shinmun<\/em> newspaper wrote in an editorial on Friday.<\/p>\n Also on Friday morning, one month after Yoon declared martial law on December 3, the conservative Chosun Ilbo<\/em> published an editorial highlighting how prolonged domestic chaos has jeopardized South Korea\u2019s export-oriented economy and contributed to the depreciation of the won.<\/p>\n \u201cEconomic sentiment is freezing due to political uncertainty,\u201d Chosun<\/em> wrote, adding, \u201cBad politics can no longer be allowed to ruin our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Anti-corruption investigators and police in South Korea suspended their efforts to arrest ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday following a physical altercation with presidential security guards. The Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO) stated in a message to reporters that attempting to arrest Yoon by entering his residence was deemed \u201calmost impossible.\u201d The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[736,4536,503,4107,1085,1194,2160],"class_list":["post-7060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-arrest","tag-choi-sang-mok","tag-headline","tag-impeachment","tag-protests","tag-south-korea","tag-yoon-suk-yeol"],"yoast_head":"\n