The Korea Herald

피터빈트

N. Korean media outlets report 2 days after Yoon’s impeachment

By Lee Si-jin

Published : Dec. 16, 2024 - 13:22

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A person picks up an extra edition newspapers with the headline A person picks up an extra edition newspapers with the headline "President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment passed" at Seoul Station in Yongsna-gu, central Seoul, Dec. 14. (Yonhap)

North Korean media outlets reported on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment Monday, two days after the National Assembly voted to suspend him from office Saturday.

The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most widely circulated newspaper, and the Korean Central News Agency, which targets international audiences, both reported that the South's National Assembly passed the motion to impeach Yoon with 204 votes in favor and 85 against.

The report was featured on the sixth page of Monday's Rodong Sinmun, consistent with the coverage by KCNA.

Portraying the public anger as represented by large-scale rallies near the areas of the National Assembly and the presidential office through Saturday, North Korean state media said that Yoon continued to spark people’s fury with a statement "spliced with lies and obstinacy," referring to the president's televised address on Thursday.

State media reported in English that Yoon "sparked off stronger rebuff and resentment of the political and public circles as the puppet shifted the responsibility for foolish emergency martial law declaration onto the opposition parties and the 'threat' from someone and insulted the struggle of the broad masses for impeachment as a 'sword dance of chaos.'"

North Korean state media detailed the current political landscape in South Korea, highlighting that Yoon's political future hinges on the Constitutional Court's forthcoming decision.

It stated that Yoon’s apparent self-defense disappointed some of his own People Power Party lawmakers and led them to turn against the president, ultimately creating separation within the ruling party. The North Korean state media mentioned the first attempt to impeach the president was scrapped with a group boycott by the People Power Party on Dec. 7.

State media also said that top police officers and high-ranking military personnel, who are considered to be connected to Yoon’s short-lived declaration of martial law, have been suspended from their duties.

The report continued, "The investigation into puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, the ringleader of rebellion, and his accomplices is underway."

The Rodong Sinmun first reported on Yoon's botched Dec. 3 declaration of martial law on Wednesday, over a week after the event. This followed a weeklong hiatus beginning on Dec. 5, during which the outlet refrained from covering South Korean politics, including anti-Yoon protests. The weeklong pause marked a departure from its usual practice of frequently publishing negative reports about South Korea's political situation on the sixth page of the Rodong Sinmun.

North Korea's coverage of South Korean political events, such as previous passages of impeachment motions at the National Assembly, have varied in timing and tone.

For instance, North Korean state media reported on the Assembly’s impeachment motion against then-President Park Geun-hye in December 2016 within four hours. State media also covered the Constitutional Court's 2017 impeachment confirmation in just two hours and 20 minutes, reporting that Park "would be under full-scale investigation as a common criminal."