The head of South Korea’s ruling party on Friday expressed support for suspending President Yeon Suk-yeol’s constitutional powers to impose martial law this week, a surprise reversal that makes Yeon’s impeachment more likely.
Opposition parties are pushing for a parliamentary vote on Yoon’s impeachment on Saturday, calling his short-lived declaration of martial law an “unconstitutional and illegal rebellion or coup.” But they need support from some members of the president’s People Power party to get the two-thirds majority needed to pass the impeachment motion.
The unrest caused by Yoon’s overnight martial law decree has frozen politics in South Korea and caused unease among neighbors, including fellow democrat Japan and the United States, Seoul’s biggest ally, as one of Asia’s most powerful democracies faces a political crisis that could unseat it from Authority. leader.
During a party meeting, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon stressed the need to quickly suspend Yoon’s presidential duties and powers, saying he poses a “high risk of taking extreme measures, such as retrying to impose martial law, which could put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.” “.
Han said he received intelligence that Yoon ordered the country’s Defense Ministry counterintelligence chief to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of conducting “anti-state activities” while martial law was in effect.
“In my opinion, the immediate suspension of President Yeon Suk-yeol’s official duties is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people,” Han said.
Yoon’s removal will require support from 200 of the 300-member National Assembly. The opposition parties that jointly submitted the impeachment motion won 192 seats combined. The Pakistan People’s Party has 108 legislators.
If Yoon is impeached, he will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential authority. Prime Minister Han Dak-soo, the country’s No. 2 official, will assume presidential responsibilities.
The Defense Ministry said it had suspended the Defense Ministry’s counterintelligence chief, Yoon In-hyung, who Han claimed received orders from Yoon to detain politicians. The ministry also suspended Lee Jin-woo, commander of the Capital Defense Command, and Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the Special Warfare Command, due to their involvement in implementing martial law.
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In a closed briefing to lawmakers, Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, said Yoon called after martial law was imposed and ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit detain key politicians. Kim Byung-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting, said the politicians targeted included Han, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik. Kim said Hong told lawmakers he ignored Yoon’s orders.
The spy agency’s director, Cho Taiyong, disputed Hong’s account. Chu told reporters that such an order would have been issued to him, not Hong, and that he had not received any orders from Yun to detain the politicians.
Han previously said he would work to defeat the impeachment motion despite criticizing Yoon’s martial law declaration as “unconstitutional.” Hahn said there was a need to “prevent harm to citizens and supporters caused by ill-equipped chaos.”
Thousands of demonstrators have marched in the streets of Seoul since Wednesday, demanding that Yoon resign and be investigated.
Thousands of auto workers and other members of the Korea Metalworkers Union, one of the country’s largest labor groups, have begun hourly strikes since Thursday in protest against Yoon. The union said its members will begin indefinite strikes starting on December 11 if Yoon remains in office at that time.
Deputy Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho promised the ministry’s “active cooperation” with the investigation by prosecutors into the military’s role in implementing martial law under Yoon. He added that military prosecutors would also participate in the investigation. He denied media speculation that Yoon and his military confidants might consider imposing martial law again.
“Even if there was a demand to impose martial law, the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff would not accept it at all,” Kim said.
Kim became acting Defense Minister after Yoon’s office on Thursday accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun, who was also banned from traveling while he was investigated over the imposition of martial law.
Opposition parties and Han claim that it was Kim Young-hyun who recommended that Yoon declare martial law. During a parliamentary hearing on Thursday, Kim Seon-ho said that Kim Young-hyun also ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law.
Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to repeal Yoon’s martial law decree. Martial law eventually lasted about six hours, after its swift revocation by the National Assembly forced Yoon’s government to lift it before dawn on Wednesday.
Main opposition Liberal Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said in a televised speech on Friday that it was necessary to suspend Yoon “as quickly as possible.”
Lee said Yoon’s implementation of martial law amounted to “a rebellion and also a self-coup.” He said that Yoon’s move caused serious damage to the country’s image and paralyzed foreign policy, pointing to criticism from the Biden administration and foreign leaders for canceling their visits to South Korea.
Yoon did not immediately respond to Han’s comments. He has not appeared in public since he made a televised announcement that the martial law decree was being lifted.
Prosecutor Shim Woo-jung told reporters that prosecutors intend to investigate charges of rebellion against Yoon following complaints filed by the opposition. While the president is mostly immune from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. It was not immediately clear how prosecutors plan to proceed with the investigation into Yoon.
The Democratic Party is also considering filing a complaint against Pakistan People’s Party leader Cho Kyung-ho, whom the opposition party accuses of trying to facilitate the implementation of martial law on Yoon.
Cho, a Leon loyalist, had asked party lawmakers to meet at party headquarters instead of the National Assembly after martial law began. This means that fewer lawmakers attended Parliament’s vote on lifting martial law.
