Seoul: Amid calls for impeachment and public outrages over the martial law declaration which was recalled hours after its announcement, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is fighting for his survival in the country. The leader has now apologised for the anxiety he has caused to the nation with the declaration of the martial law.
‘Very Sorry’: South Korean President Apologises for Martial Law
South Korea’s president apologised on Saturday for public anxiety caused by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law earlier this week, and said he would leave it to his conservative political party to chart a course through the turmoil left in its aftermath “including matters related to my term in office”, hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on impeaching him.
Yoon said in a brief televised address on Saturday morning he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promised not to make another attempt to impose it, adding that he’s “truly sorry” for causing public anxiety and inconvenience with his declaration of martial law earlier this week.
Will South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Be Impeached?
South Korean lawmakers are set to vote later Saturday on impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the motion submitted by opposition lawmakers would get the two-thirds majority required for Yoon to be impeached. But it appeared more likely after the leader of Yoon’s own party on Friday called for suspending his constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold the office and capable of taking more extreme action, including renewed attempts to impose martial law.
Impeaching Yoon would require support from 200 of the National Assembly’s 300 members. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined. That means they would need at least eight votes from Yoon’s People Power Party. On Wednesday, 18 members of the PPP joined a vote that unanimously cancelled martial law 190-0 less than three hours after Yoon declared the measure on television, calling the opposition-controlled parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs.
The vote took place as hundreds of heavily-armed troops encircled the National Assembly in an attempt to disrupt the vote and possibly to detain key politicians. Parliament said on Saturday that it would meet at 5 p.m. It will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate influence peddling allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife, and then on impeaching Yoon.
President Yoon’s martial Law Declaration That Caused Chaos in South Korea
Yoon imposed martial law late Tuesday, pledging to eliminate “anti-state” forces as he struggled to push forward his agenda in the opposition-dominated parliament and accused it of ‘sympathising with North Korea.’ The martial law remained in effect for six hours, with South Korea witnessing a tense night of political drama.
Amid massive outrage across South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol lifted the martial law early Wednesday, hours after he imposed it on the country; the law was formally lifted at 04:30 am, AP reported. Yoon said, “Dear respected citizens, last night at 11 pm, I declared martial law with a firm resolve to protect the country from anti-state forces that were attempting to paralyze the essential functions of the state and collapse the constitutional order of liberal democracy. However, just a moment ago, the parliament demanded the lifting of the martial law, so I have ordered the withdrawal of the military forces deployed for this purpose.”
Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt paralysed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners, including neighbouring Japan and Seoul’s top ally the United States, as one of the strongest democracies in Asia faces a political crisis that could unseat its leader. Opposition lawmakers claim that Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to a self-coup and drafted the impeachment motion around rebellion charges.
(Inputs from AP)
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