The Constitutional Crisis in the Republic of Korea. The Results of the Parliamentary Elections

The constitutional crisis in South Korea, which began in early December 2024 after unsuccessful attempts to implement martial law and impeach the President, escalated after the April 10 parliamentary elections. According to the election results, the Democratic camp failed to garner the two-thirds majority required to impeach the President or amend the constitution. Similarly, the conservative party failed to turn the tide in their favor despite there being several issues within the Democratic camp prior to the elections. As a result, what initially appeared to be a convincing victory for the Democratic Party and its retention of a qualified majority turned out to be a preservation of the status quo. This is evident when comparing the election results from 2020 to 2024. The main result of the 2024 elections is that the parliament has become more focused on bipartisan confrontation for the sake of confrontation. The influence of parties with a truly left-wing agenda, unlike the Democrats, has decreased to a minimum; attempts by the breakaway centerright and center-left to form an influential "third" force have also failed. As a result, a sharp confrontation continued between the president and parliament. Appointees of the president and his legislative initiatives were rejected, and he also vetoed laws passed by parliament. In response, in the summer of 2024, the government increased efforts to imprison opposition leader Lee Jae-myung based on generally substantiated evidence. This led to preparations by the opposition for impeachment proceedings in response. The government's attempts to "cut the Gordian knot" resulted in a December crisis, which will be discussed in the next section of this material.

Parliamentary elections, the internal politics of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, Lee Jae-myung, the confrontation between parliament and the president