The impeachment of South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo Friday has plunged the country into further political turmoil, coming less than two weeks after lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials are unprecedented, and the deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is now South Korea’s new interim leader. Upon taking over power, Choi swiftly ordered the military to boost readiness to thwart potential North Korean aggressions and told diplomats to reassure key partners like the U.S. and Japan.
“(Han’s) impeachment now creates an opportunity for external threats while causing Korea’s foreign partners to alienate it from the global community,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
A look at the latest developments on the South Korean political tumult, which began with Yoon’s short-lived Dec. 3 martial law.
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Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the …