On 4 April 2025, Yoon Suk Yeol was finally impeached. It was 122 days after the attempted military coup on 3 December. It was 111 days after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion.

The impeachment of Yoon is a great victory for the democratic masses. Ordinary citizens who bravely ran to the National Assembly building, blocked armored vehicles, and stood up to martial law troops prevented the coup. After that, many more people consistently took to the streets to demand the impeachment of Yoon.

The Constitutional Court announced the decision to impeach Yoon in a unanimous and well-reasoned decision. The Constitutional Court decided that Yoon should be impeached on both the substantive and procedural issues of the impeachment trial. It is a completely justified and deserved decision.

The Constitutional Court’s decision to dismiss Yoon has ended his career as a public official. Now, Yoon will face a criminal trial as a “private citizen” on charges of being the leader of an insurgency. Yoon must be jailed.

In addition, the coup forces and their remnants still remain. Currently, eight cabinet members, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Public Administration and Security, and the Minister of Justice, are currently facing charges of aiding and abetting the coup.

On the night of the coup, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a Level 2 alert, saying that they were preparing for a North Korean invasion.

The investigation into the involvement of high-ranking prosecutors in the coup has not even begun. Many of the police superintendents and superintendents-general who were promoted in February included pro-Yoon police officers.

A more serious problem is that we do not know clearly and in detail who participated in the coup.

Therefore, we must continue to fight to punish the coup forces and their remnants.

Also, the far right will not go away even if Yoon is deposed. The far right will regroup and fight back, and mobilisation against them will have to resume. Since the Yoon impeachment movement held counter-protests in the centre of Seoul and at universities in March, the far right has slowed down. In the future, it seems that counter-protests against the far-right should also be organised in local communities.

The presidential election will be held soon. Now, we must defeat the right wing People Power Party, which has revealed its true colours as an extreme right wing party, in the presidential election. Even if leader of Democratic Party Lee Jae Myung wins the presidential election, the far right will soon launch a large-scale counter-mobilisation, so we should not be complacent. We must not be obsessed with the election, but must use the changes in the political situation to vitalise the struggle of the working class.

The geopolitical issues of East Asia will be crucial before and after the elections. Therefore, we must work to build an anti-imperialist movement. Even if the government changes, the People Power Party and the far right will persistently agitate against China and North Korea.

Let’s celebrate today and this weekend. We may need a little rest. But all the factors are ringing the alarm bell that we should not become complacent. Let’s reorganize our ranks and build a new front to confront the far right, the Yoon government without Yoon, bosses and imperialism.

4th April

Workers' Solidarity