South Korea’s SEOUL The day before an impeachment vote, the leader of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeols’ ruling party reversed his stance on Friday, signaling greater openness to his ouster as president after throwing the important U.S. ally into upheaval with a brief proclamation of martial law.
The conservative People Power Party (PPP) leader, Han Dong-hoon, had previously stated that he was against Yoon’s impeachment, arguing that it would only lead to further unrest. However, he claimed to have discovered on Friday that Yoon had not only imposed martial law but also ordered the arrest of well-known politicians. The decision was revoked six hours later after parliament rejected it.
Since President Yoon was not admitting his wrongdoings, Han stated, “I have concluded that it is necessary to suspend President Yoon from exercising his mandate to protect the South Korea and its people in light of these new revelations.”
“I fear that there will be a great risk of radical actions like this state of emergency repeating if Yoon continues as president,” Han said, adding that he will put South Korea and its citizens in grave danger.
Han’s remarks raised the possibility that Yoon will be impeached at Saturday’s vote, which is scheduled for roughly 7 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). Just short the two-thirds majority required for the resolution to pass, the opposition alliance controls 192 of the 300 seats in the unicameral assembly.
Although it had previously stated that it opposed the impeachment petition, the PPP, which rejected Yoon’s proclamation of martial law, had urged him to leave the party. It would have required at least eight PPP lawmakers to defect from their party in order for it to pass before Han changed his mind.
Yoon’s impeachment had been proposed by six opposition parties due to the martial law order, which restricted media and prohibited political activities. Yoon will be suspended from office for 180 days if he is impeached, pending the Constitutional Court’s decision on whether to uphold the move.
In his declaration, the highly unpopular Yoon—whose approval rating was already 19% prior to the emergency martial law—blamed opposition lawmakers for allegedly paralyzing the government by attempting to impeach several government officials and cutting vital funding from the national budget for the following year.
Lawmakers from the opposition are worried that if Yoon is impeached, or even before, he may impose martial law a second time. Yoon has not appeared in public since the decree was lifted.
The leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, stated on Friday that he believes danger is likely tonight. Something might occur again tonight or early tomorrow morning, I have a hunch.
Even if Yoon made such an attempt, the Ministry of Defense and the South Korean military would vehemently reject it, according to Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho, whose predecessor resigned last week due to his involvement in the proclamation of martial law.
Kwak Jong-keun, Yoon’s special forces commander, added on Friday that Yoon would not be able to impose martial law once more because he would not follow any such directive.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken voiced serious concerns about the martial rule proclamation and applauded the order’s lifting during a call with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, on Thursday.
Using an acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea, the State Department readout stated that the Secretary expressed his confidence in the ROK’s democratic resilience during this time and stated that he expects the ROK’s democratic process to triumph.
Blinken also underlined the unwavering nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, which is home to almost 30,000 American soldiers and is seen as a crucial bulwark against North Korea, China, and Russia.
Meetings of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group and associated tabletop military drills scheduled for Washington this week have been canceled due to the unrest in South Korea, the United States stated Thursday.
More information on the tumultuous hours between Yoon’s proclamation of martial law at 10:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday and its lifting at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, however, has surfaced.
About 300 military broke into its offices and associated buildings after Yoon proclaimed martial law in a surprise late-night TV broadcast on Tuesday, according to the South Korean National Election Commission, which stated Friday that this was a blatant breach of the law and the Constitution.
According to the commission, the troops occupied its headquarters for almost three hours and twenty minutes, took the cell phones of five employees, and restricted access to the building.
A comprehensive and ongoing examination will be carried out to determine any potential damages, the commission stated in a statement, even though it has been confirmed that no internal materials have been removed by the forces thus far.
According to Kwak, the commander of special forces, some National Election Commission units remained in their cars, while others followed orders to protect and defend the outside boundary.
He claimed that after spending roughly twenty minutes there, they decided to depart when Kwak ordered operations to stop at 1:09 a.m., which coincided with lawmakers’ vote to reject emergency martial law and the order for soldiers to evacuate the central Seoul legislative.
According to Kwak, no one entered the building, and there were no intentions to imprison or hinder commission employees.
In essence, he added, I stopped the mission before any action was taken.
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, and Stella Kim from Seoul.
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