section_path: Background
section_name: Background
paragraph_text: Background
  
  South Korea has been governed as a presidential democracy under the 1987 constitution, which provides for a strong executive independent of the legislature. Yoon Suk Yeol, a member of the conservative People Power Party and former prosecutor general, took office as President of South Korea following his victory in the 2022 election.
  
  Yoon has been criticized for far-right political views. His administration had low approval ratings, reaching as low as 17%, with 58% of the population in a November 2024 survey supporting either Yoon's resignation or impeachment. Yoon had struggled to achieve his agenda due to opposition from the National Assembly, controlled by the opposition Democratic Party (DPK) since 2020. In the April 2024 legislative election, the opposition retained its majority but still lacked the two-thirds majority (200 out of 300) required under the constitution to impeach the president.
  
  Yoon boycotted the opening of the National Assembly, even though it is customary for the president to deliver a speech at the event. Yoon has also opposed investigations into scandals involving his wife Kim Keon-hee and top officials, vetoing three separate bills that called for a special counsel investigation into his wife, the third occurring on 26 November 2024. On 2 December 2024, the opposition-controlled parliament moved to impeach Board of Audit and Inspection Chair Choe Jae-hae and three prosecutors involved in two scandals surrounding Kim and rejected the government's 2025 budget proposal.