March 18 (UPI) -- At first blush, removing President Yoon Suk Yeol might seem like a triumph for liberals in South Korea, if it transpires. As the saying goes, though, "be careful of what one wishes for."
Removing Yoon may trigger Section 7008 punishments from the United States government, which can include the elimination of: Bilateral Economic Assistance (III), International Security Assistance (IV), Multilateral Assistance (V), and Export and Investment Assistance (VI).
Yoon is the duly elected president of South Korea; thus, his presidency expresses the will of the South Korean people. Seizing him by force "ultra vires" (Latin for an act that requires legal authority but is done without it) by surrounding the presidential residence with thousands of armed agents and throwing him into solitary confinement should count as a coup d'etat if Yoon is ultimately removed from office.
The elimination of Yoon from office may bring the growing popular support for conservatives to a floodtide. Already, Yoon's approval ratings have shot up multiples of times from where they were in December. Large rallies of hundreds of thousands of energetic Yoon supporters have sprung up around the country, including the very large gatherings on March 1, the anniversary of the launch of Korea's Independence movement.
There is much ire among the Korean people over the impeachment attempts by the opposition against about 30 officials in the executive branch who were seeking to investigate or expose the malfeasances and corruption for which leftists especially seem to fear exposure.
In the event that Yoon is removed from office, the conservatives would have a considerable wave of momentum that could be focused around their strongest candidate. If that happens, there would be another conservative president for another five-year term, rather than Yoon serving out the rest of his term, which would be shorter than the time he had already served.
There is surely no guarantee that Lee Jae Myung, the liberal leader and likely candidate in an emergency presidential election, would win. There are reports that the Chinese Communist Party is already thinking about a replacement for Lee.
Additionally, Lee already qualifies for U.S. and U.N. sanctions based on the alleged pouring of millions and millions of dollars' worth of money into North Korea, which runs counter to the existing sanctions of the U.N. and United States against North Korea. With two of his close associates already convicted for doing so, Lee's prospects for exoneration look dim.
If Lee or others like him "succeed" in turning South Korea into something more like North Korea -- or worse yet, hand over the country to the communist North -- hen he will have turned a thriving market economy and democracy over to the poorest, most unjust, most corrupt totalitarian dictatorship in the world. For that is what North Korea has been. Plunging South Korea into that darkness would hardly be a cause for celebration.
Furthermore, if Korea unites under North Korea, then it would naturally fall under the domination of the Chinese Communist Party. Consider that more than 90% of North Korea's economic interaction is with China. About one-fourth of South Korea's exports already go to China, its largest trading partner. A Korea united under North Korea and then placed under the boot of the Chinese Communist Party would be a part of the eventual domination of the region and the world, which is the CCP's strategic aim.
The extension of the CCP's techno-totalitarianism (a neologism that I coined), organ harvesting by murdering living people, genocide and crimes against humanity could not possibly be good for the oppressed. As the one who initiated, supported and saw through the mass atrocity determinations for crimes against humanity and genocide against the CCP, I have an extensive basis of support for these determinations.
As no legitimate legal basis for removing Yoon exists, such a decision would rightfully draw the condemnation of those inside of South Korea, as well as those around the world who are watching. Removing the duly elected president, who merely exercised his constitutional powers under Article 77 of the Constitution to awaken the South Korean people to a growing leftist tyranny, fails as a legitimate legal decision.
Basing a decision on perjury and subornation of perjury also would deserve harsh denunciation. Failing to investigate and receive relevant and material evidence also constitutes a dereliction of judicial duty.
Rushing to a decision before Lee Jae Myung's expected convictions that would make him ineligible as a presidential candidate is unacceptably politicized and would vindicate the most cynical observations. The thinly veiled pretense of the color of law over this coup d'etat should be ripped away.
In sum, the liberal wing of South Korean politics could win the battle by removing Yoon -- only to find that it overplayed its hand to lose the figurative war. Withdrawing from the case may prove to be the best move.
_Morse Tan served as the U.S. ambassador at large for global criminal justice and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. He currently is the senior executive director of the Center for Law and Government at Liberty. He has published and contributed to a wide range of media and in scholarly outlets, such as the Cornell International Law Journal._
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