North Korean state media relishes ‘foolish’ Yoon’s downfall

North Korean state media on Monday decried South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol as a “ringleader of rebellion”, its first reaction to his removal from office over a short-lived martial law decree.

Pyongyang has been relatively tight-lipped over South Korea’s political turmoil, which culminated on Saturday with the country’s parliament voting to impeach him over “insurrection”.

Yoon has been suspended while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates the impeachment, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo serving as interim leader.

As of Saturday, the court had 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.

The court’s acting head, Moon Hyung-bae, said he would convene a meeting of its judges on Monday to plan a timetable for the case.

Also on Monday, Pyongyang’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Yoon had attempted to shift responsibility for the “foolish emergency martial law declaration” onto opposition parties.