South Korea's Yoon Hangs On But Barely

One must consider what comes next:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt at imposing martial law, a Justice Ministry official said on Monday, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis.

Yoon has apologized for the botched attempt and said he was leaving his political and legal fate to his ruling People Power Party (PPP) but has not resigned. He has become a subject of criminal investigation, according to local media reports.

On Monday, the Defense Ministry said Yoon was still legally commander in chief, but his grip on power has come into question with dissent growing among senior military officers against the president, and his own party saying it would establish a task force to handle his eventual resignation.

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A National Assembly committee approved a motion that would mandate the appointment of a permanent special counsel to investigate whether President Yoon Suk Yeol committed insurrection by issuing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3. The motion allows the proposal to be put to a parliamentary vote scheduled Tuesday.

The motion was introduced Friday by the opposition-led Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

All eleven opposition lawmakers on the committee voted to advance the motion, while seven ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote.

As the motion only requires a simple majority, observers say it is likely to pass in Tuesday's plenary vote. The opposition coalition, which holds a 192-seat majority in the 300-seat Assembly, has the power to pass most bills without ruling party support.

Yoon and several of his current and former aides, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, ruling People Power Party Rep. Choo Kyung-ho and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, would be subject to the permanent counsel probe, accused of insurrection or collusion in the act of insurrection.

Unlike a regular special counsel investigation, which is initiated by the Assembly passing a specific law for the purpose, the appointment of a permanent special counsel involves the activation of an existing law -- the Act on the Appointment of an Independent Prosecutor. This strips the president of his power to veto the appointment of a permanent special counsel.

However, the president retains the power to confirm and appoint as special counsel one of two candidates proposed by a seven-member committee of legal experts. He must do so within three days, but the law does not specify a punishment for the president if he fails to meet the deadline.

The law also states that the investigation must be completed within 110 days, unlike a regular special counsel, who can be given more flexibility by stating the deadline in the initial appointment bill.

The main opposition on Monday also introduced two separate bills calling for regular special counsel investigations into insurrection charges against Yoon and allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee was involved in a stock manipulation scandal that unfolded nearly a decade ago. This marks the fourth time the Democratic Party has floated a special counsel bill targeting the first lady. The previous three versions of the bill were scrapped due to a lack of quorum for revotes in the Assembly after Yoon vetoed all three of them.