Yoon Suk Yeol: The Impeached President of South Korea

Yoon Suk Yeol who born 18 December 1960 is a South Korean lawyer and politician who has served as the president of South Korea since 2022.

A member of the People Power Party (PPP), Yoon previously served as the prosecutor general of South Korea from 2019 to 2021 under his presidential predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

Since 14 December 2024, Yoon has been suspended from his presidential powers following his impeachment by the National Assembly of Korea.

The Constitutional Court of Korea is in the process of determining whether he is permanently removed or restored to office.

Yoon Suk Yeol’s Early Life

Yoon was born in Seoul and earned two degrees from Seoul National University. In his capacity as chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, he played a key role in convicting former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak of abuse of power.

Then-president Moon appointed Yoon prosecutor general of South Korea in 2019. During Yoon’s leadership, the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office conducted embattled investigations into Cho Kuk, an influential figure in the Moon administration, that led to Cho’s resignation as minister of justice.

Yoon’s clashes with the Moon administration until he resigned as prosecutor general in March 2021 led to his rise as a potential presidential candidate among conservative voters.

In June 2021, Yoon announced his candidacy in the 2022 South Korean presidential election. He joined the right-wing PPP in July and won its nomination in November.

Considered a conservative and economically liberal politician, Yoon ran on a platform promising economic deregulation and measures such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

He narrowly defeated Democratic Party nominee Lee Jae-myung by less than a percentage point on 9 March 2022 and assumed office as president on 10 May, becoming the first elected president to be born after the end to fighting in the Korean War.

During his presidency, Yoon’s foreign policy has been described as hawkish toward North Korea and friendlier to Japan than that of previous South Korean presidents. His handling of the Seoul Halloween crowd crush in 2022 and the ongoing medical crisis has attracted criticism.

In the 2024 parliamentary midterm elections, Yoon’s party suffered an electoral defeat, which weakened his political power. Under Yoon’s tenure, South Korea has undergone democratic backsliding and a shift towards authoritarianism. He has received mostly low approval ratings as president and has been described as a lame duck.

Yoon Suk Yeol Declare Martial Law and Is Impeached

On 3 December 2024, Yoon declared martial law in South Korea, the first time it had been declared since the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980.

He justified the action by accusing members of the National Assembly of being pro-North Korea; however, Yoon lifted it after the National Assembly passed an emergency motion nullifying the declaration several hours after Yoon’s speech.

Amid widespread criticism over the declaration and mass protests, an impeachment motion was introduced against Yoon on 4 December in the National Assembly, though it fell short of the 200 needed to pass. He was successfully impeached in a second vote on 14 December 2024, with 204 voting in favor, including 12 members of his own party.