South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol addressed the nation on Saturday morning, apologising for imposing martial law a few days ago, saying he was prepared to take full political and legal responsibility for his actions. However, demands for him to resign have continued in Korea, and the country’s parliament will vote tonight on whether to declare him impeached.
After shocking the whole of South Korea and the world by imposing martial law on the night of December 3-4, which lasted only 6 hours and was cancelled by the parliament, Yoon Suk Yeol was expected to explain and apologise, but it seems that the head of state could not gather his wits and thoughts for a long time, finally speaking at 10 a.m. on December 7.
In his statement, President Yoon apologised three times for imposing martial law and for the confusion and anxiety he caused the people with his decision. He vaguely attributed those actions to a sense of “urgency, a sense of urgency that he felt as the person in charge of the country.” However, he then admitted that his actions ultimately caused confusion.
Yoon emphasised that he would not try to avoid “the political and legal responsibilities that may follow the decision to declare martial law,” promising that there would be no repeat of something similar. On his future, he said he was ready to entrust the ruling party and the government to decide this, as well as political affairs and the question of the length of his stay.
“Early resignation from the presidency is inevitable”
Han Dong-hoon, head of the ruling People’s Power Party, said that “early resignation from the presidency is inevitable as it is impossible for him to fulfil his duties as head of state normally.” The politician noted that various options are being discussed with government representatives, including shortening the term of the government. The ruling party, however, has maintained its position that lawmakers have been advised to vote against impeachment at the impeachment vote scheduled for tonight.
It also became known that Han Dong-hoon and ROK Prime Minister Han Duck-soo held an emergency meeting where they likely discussed possible options.
The leader of the main opposition Toburo Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, said that the president’s address disappointed the people, increasing only the feeling of being betrayed, and therefore the opposition intends to seek impeachment if Yoon Suk Yeol does not voluntarily resign in the few remaining hours before the vote. Lee urged ruling party lawmakers to “show courage” and vote in favour of impeachment.
South Korea’s future is decided today
The vote, crucial to South Korea’s future, will be held today and starts at 5 p.m. local time. At the same time, a vote on two issues is scheduled. First, the opposition will again try to hold a bill to initiate an independent investigation into suspicions related to the actions of President Yoon’s wife Kim Keon-hee, and then there will be a vote on impeachment.
Yoon has previously vetoed the bill to investigate his wife twice. This bill is very likely to pass because it requires a simple majority, which the opposition has. But impeachment requires at least two-thirds of the votes of the total number of deputies of the People’s Assembly, i.e. 200 out of 300.
At the moment, the opposition has a total of 192 votes, and therefore it needs at least 8 more deputies from the ruling party to support the impeachment, breaking the single line agreed by the ruling camp. The vote will be held in secret, discontent with the actions of the president is high, and therefore there is a possibility of such a number of “defectors” from the ruling party, but there may not be enough votes.
