South Korea's opposition chief urges top court to act swiftly on impeachment
Seoul(AP): South Korea's opposition leader on Sunday urged the Constitutional Court to rule swiftly on a bid to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, a day after parliament voted to impeach him over a short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
Yoon's powers will be suspended until the court rules on the case, either removing Yoon from office or restoring his powers. The court has up to 180 to decide, and if he's dismissed, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country's No. 2 official, took over presidential powers later Saturday. Han was appointed by Yoon, whose government has struggled to pass legislation in the opposition-controlled parliament.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, told reporters Sunday that a swift ruling is the only way to minimize national chaos.
Lee also proposed the creation of a national council where the government and the National Assembly would work together to stabilize state affairs. He said bipartisan cooperation is essential to navigating the political paralysis that has halted high-level diplomacy and spooked financial markets since Yoon's martial law decree.
Lee also said that the Democratic Party would not seek to impeach of Han, despite some calls to do so over his alleged inaction to prevent Yoon's martial law enforcement. Lee said there was no need to introduce further political uncertainty.
“The Democratic Party will actively cooperate with all parties to stabilize state affairs and restore international trust,” Lee said. “The National Assembly and government will work together to quickly resolve the crisis that has swept across the Republic of Korea.”
Yoon's Dec. 3 imposition of martial law, the first of its kind in more than four decades, lasted only six hours, but has caused massive political tumult, halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets. Yoon was forced to lift his decree after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.
Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament in an effort to stop the vote, but they withdrew after the parliament rejected Yoon's decree. No major violence occurred.
Opposition parties have accused Yoon of rebellion, and say that a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and would have no right to suspend parliament's operations even in those cases.
The conservative Yoon rejects the charges and says he aimed to issue a warning to the Democratic Party, which he has called an “anti-state force” as it's used its control of parliament to impeach many top officials and hold up the government's budget bill for next year.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
