SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol, leader of the ruling party, on Friday signaled more openness to dismissing the president, accusing him of throwing a key U.S. ally into turmoil by briefly imposing martial law, repeating his previous position. It was reversed. Impeachment vote.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the conservative People’s Power Party (PPP), has previously said he opposes impeaching Yoon, as it would only cause further chaos. But on Friday, he said he learned that Yin had ordered the arrest of prominent politicians in addition to declaring martial law, an order that was lifted six hours later after lawmakers voted against it.
Han said, “Based on these new facts, I have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to suspend President Yoon from exercising his responsibility to protect South Korea and its people.” “I haven’t,” he added.
Mr. Han said that if Mr. Yoon continues as president, he is concerned that “there is a great risk that extreme actions like the recent declaration of a state of emergency will be repeated, and that it will put South Korea and its people at great risk.” “There is,” he said.
Han’s comments raised the possibility that Yun will be impeached when the vote is held around 7pm local time (5am Eastern time) on Saturday. The opposition coalition holds 192 of the 300 seats in the unicameral parliament, just short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the motion.
The People’s Party rejected Yun’s declaration of martial law and asked him to leave the party, but had previously said it would oppose the impeachment motion. Before Han changed his position, at least eight MPs would have needed to leave the party to pass the PPP.
Six opposition parties had proposed impeaching Yun over martial law, which bans political activities and censors the media. If Yoon is impeached, he will have 180 days to be impeached until the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold the allegations.
South Korean police and prosecutors are also investigating charges of sedition and treason against Yoon, former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who accepted his resignation on Thursday, and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min.
The highly unpopular Mr. Yun, 63, already had an approval rating of 19% before the emergency martial law was imposed, but in his manifesto he criticized opposition politicians and several senior government officials. They called for the impeachment of the US government and accused it of paralyzing the government by cutting vital funding from next year’s government budget. National budget.
Opposition members have expressed concern that Yun may declare martial law again if he is impeached, or sooner, although he has not appeared in public since his impeachment was lifted. There is.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, said on Friday: “I feel there is imminent danger tonight.” “I had a hunch that something might happen again tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
Defense Minister Kim Seong-ho dismissed these concerns, saying that even if Yoon were to make such an attempt, the Ministry of Defense and the South Korean military would “categorically reject it.”
Kwak Jeong-geun, Yun’s special forces commander, also said on Friday that it was impossible for Yun to declare martial law again “because I refuse to obey any orders.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “deep concern” over the declaration of martial law in a telephone conversation with South Korean Secretary of State Cho Tae-yeol on Thursday and welcomed the lifting of the order.
“The Secretary conveys his confidence in South Korea’s democratic resilience during this period and hopes that South Korea’s democratic process will prevail,” the State Department statement said, using the abbreviation for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea. ” he said.
Blinken also reaffirmed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea. The United States views South Korea as an important bulwark against North Korea, China and Russia, and has about 30,000 American troops stationed there.
The United States confirmed Thursday that a meeting of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group and related tabletop military exercises scheduled for this week in Washington have been postponed due to unrest in South Korea.
Meanwhile, more details have emerged about the chaotic period between Yin’s declaration of martial law at around 10:30pm local time on Tuesday and the order being lifted around 4:30am on Wednesday. .
South Korea’s Central Election Commission said on Friday that after Yun declared martial law in a surprise late-night televised speech, about 300 troops invaded the election commission’s headquarters and related facilities, calling it a violation of the Constitution. “This is a clear violation of the law.”
According to the commission, the soldiers confiscated the cellphones of five people on duty, restricted access to the premises, and occupied the headquarters for about three hours and 20 minutes.
“While it has been confirmed that no internal material was removed by the military to date, a thorough and ongoing investigation will be conducted to verify potential damage,” the commission said in a statement. Ta.
Kwak, the special forces commander, said some units from the Central Election Commission remained in their vehicles, while others “secured and guarded the perimeter as instructed.”
He said they were in the area for about 20 minutes before Kwak gave them the order to cease operations at 1:09 a.m. and they moved to withdraw. At the same time, lawmakers voted to reject the declaration of emergency martial law and ordered soldiers to leave the parliament. The center of Seoul.
Kwak said no one was on the premises and there were no plans to detain or interfere with commission staff.
“Basically, I stopped the mission before any action was taken,” he said.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
