The head of South Korea’s ruling party on Friday expressed support for suspending President Yoon Suk-yeol’s constitutional powers to impose martial law, making the possibility of Yun’s impeachment more likely.
People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun said he had received intelligence that Yun had ordered the country’s defense commander to arrest and detain unspecified prominent politicians on charges of “anti-state activities” during martial law.
Han criticized Yun’s declaration of martial law as “unconstitutional” on Thursday, but said he would work to defeat the impeachment motion. “There is a need to prevent casualties to civilians and supporters due to unprepared chaos,” Han said. Han said Friday that Yun “poses a significant risk of extreme actions, such as renewed attempts to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in grave danger.”
Impeachment of Yun requires the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats.
Han leads an anti-Yun faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers from his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yun’s martial law decree. Martial law eventually lasted for about six hours, after a swift overrule by the National Assembly forced Yun’s cabinet to adjourn earlier Wednesday afternoon.
If Yun is impeached, he will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential powers. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo will assume the presidency.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, said in a separate televised speech that it was important to suspend Yun “as soon as possible.” Lee also called Yun’s martial law enforcement a “rebellion and self-rebellion.” He pointed to criticism of the Biden administration and foreign leaders’ cancellation of visits to South Korea that Yun’s move had severely damaged the country’s image and paralyzed foreign policy.
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