South Korea’s impeached president gets pay rise

South Korea’s impeached president gets pay rise

SEOUL – Suspended South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol will receive a scheduled pay rise.

This was revealed in official documents yesterday. 

 The increase is despite an impeachment trial and investigation into his ill-fated martial law declaration.

Yoon suspended civilian rule on 3 December last year, sending soldiers into parliament and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. 

He was forced to backtrack hours later.

He has been impeached by lawmakers, and is awaiting a final Constitutional Court ruling that could finalise his removal from office.

 He separately faces an insurrection probe, with investigators seeking to detain him for questioning.

However, Yoon was given a raise, the civil servant salary table for 2025 shows.

This is as he remains holed up in the presidential residence, using his security detail to resist arrest.

The document from the Ministry of Personnel Management, seen by AFP yesterday, indicates that Yoon’s salary will rise to 262.6 million won (US$178 400), a 3% raise compared to last year.

Yoon is only suspended from duty because the impeachment motion is still being deliberated by the Constitutional Court.

Hence, he retains his status as president, and will be able to receive his salary and security benefits.

His successor as acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was himself impeached and is now suspended from office, will also receive a salary raise of 3%, 203.5 million (US$138 350).

“It makes my blood boil. He’s (Yoon) getting paid for doing nothing,” one user wrote on X.

The post quickly went viral.

Yoon has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators probing his martial law declaration.

 His presidential guard unit thwarted an attempt to arrest him following a tense, hours-long standoff this month.

Investigators are preparing another arrest attempt.

Rival protests for and against Yoon have been staged almost daily in the South Korean capital since the crisis began. 

-Nampa/AFP