South Korea’s ruling party chief showed support Friday for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law, in a bombshell reversal that makes Yoon’s impeachment more likely.
People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun said he had received intelligence that Yoon had ordered the country’s defence counter-intelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities” during the martial law.
Han on Thursday had said he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration as “unconstitutional.” Han said there was a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”
Han said Friday that Yoon poses a “significant risk of extreme actions, like reattempting to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
Impeaching Yoon would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats.
Han leads an anti-Yoon faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree. Martial law ultimately lasted about six hours, after the quick overrule by the National Assembly forced Yoon’s cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.
If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential power. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over presidential responsibilities.
The main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said in a separate televised speech that it was crucial to suspend Yoon as “quickly as possible.”
Lee said Yoon’s martial law enforcement amounted to “rebellion and also a self-coup.” He said Yoon’s move caused serious damage to the country’s image and paralyzed foreign policy, pointing to criticism coming out of the Biden administration and foreign leaders cancelling their visits to South Korea.
