SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled president apologized Saturday for public anxiety caused by his brief attempt to impose martial law Hours before the parliamentary vote challenge it.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a brief televised speech Saturday morning that he will not shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promised not to try to impose it again. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my mandate.”
“The declaration of their martial law arose from my desperation. But during its implementation it caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. “I am very sorry and I really apologize to the people who must have been very surprised,” Yoon said.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon, a conservative, has struggled to push his agenda in an opposition-controlled parliament and dealt with low approval ratings amid scandals involving him and his wife. In his martial law announcement Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” that bogs down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless followers of North Korea and anti-state forces.”
A National Assembly vote on an opposition-led motion to impeach Yoon is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but it was not immediately clear whether the motion would get the two-thirds vote needed to pass. The opposition parties that jointly filed the impeachment motion control 192 of the legislature’s 300 seats, meaning they need at least eight additional votes from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party.
That seemed more likely after the chairman of Yoon’s party called for his ouster on Friday, but the party continued to formally oppose impeachment.
If Yoon is charged, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must be held within 60 days.
The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and ill-considered stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and raised alarm among key diplomatic partners, including neighboring Japan and Seoul’s main ally, the United States, as one of Asia’s strongest democracies faces a political crisis that could overthrow its leader.
On Tuesday night, special forces troops surrounded the parliament building and army helicopters flew over the building, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly voted unanimously to revoke the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before the Wednesday dawn. The declaration of martial law It was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea.
Since then, thousands of people have protested on the streets of Seoul, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing K-pop songs with changed lyrics to call for Yoon’s ouster. Smaller groups of Yoon supporters demonstrated near the National Assembly on Friday, holding signs that read “We oppose unconstitutional impeachment.”
Opposition lawmakers say Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law amounted to a self-coup and drafted the impeachment motion around charges of rebellion.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “very disappointing” and that the only way forward is for his immediate resignation or impeachment.
Parliament said on Saturday it would meet at 5 pm. He will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of influence peddling surrounding Yoon’s wife, and then on Yoon’s impeachment.
It is unclear whether members of Yoon’s PPP will break ranks to vote in favor of impeachment. Eighteen lawmakers from a minority faction of the party joined the unanimous vote to cancel martial law, which passed 190-0. However, the party has decided to oppose the impeachment.
Experts say the PPP fears that Yoon’s removal and possible removal from office would leave the Conservatives in disarray and easily losing a presidential by-election to the Liberals.
On Friday, PPP Chairman Han Dong-hun who also heads the minority faction that helped cancel martial law, called for suspending Yoon’s constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold office and capable of taking more extreme actions. But Han is not a legislator and the party’s position remains anti-impeachment.
Han said he had received information that during the brief period of martial law, Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.”
After Yoon’s televised speech, Han reiterated his call for him to resign, saying the president was not in a state where he could normally carry out official duties. “President Yoon Suk Yeol’s early resignation is inevitable,” Han told reporters.
Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, later told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Yoon called after imposing martial law and ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit. to arrest key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Defense Ministry said it had suspended defense counterintelligence commander Yeo In-hyung, who Han said had received orders from Yoon to detain the politicians. The ministry also suspended the commanders of the capital defense command and the special warfare command for their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of recommending Yoon to enforce martial law, has been slapped with a travel ban and faces investigation by prosecutors on charges of rebellion.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho testified in parliament that it was Kim Yong Hyun who ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law.
Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press