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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol defended his failed attempt last week to impose military rule on the country as his party leader indicated he was preparing to support his impeachment on Saturday.
In his second public appearance since his doomed martial law maneuver, Yoon on Thursday morning lashed out at critics, calling them “anti-state forces” and suggesting that North Korea helped leftist opposition parties achieve victory in the parliamentary elections.
“I will fight to the end to prevent the criminal forces and groups responsible for paralyzing the country's government and disrupting the country's constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.
His challenge came after a speech by Han Dong-hoon, leader of Yoon's conservative People Power Party, who said the president had not adhered to an agreement to transfer decision-making on state affairs to his government, leaving accountability as the only means of protection. Democracy in the country.
“We tried to look for other options that would reduce the doubts that might be associated with the impeachment, but (the basis) for that was the president’s agreement to early resignation from his position,” Hahn told reporters. But since the president has no intention of doing so, other options are not viable.”
Han's announcement suggests the president's political fate may be resolved within days, after a week of unrest that neither the government, party nor presidential office could confirm. Who was in charge of the country.
Eight out of 108 lawmakers from the People Power Party must vote in favor of the impeachment proposal if the National Assembly wants to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass it. The party boycotted the vote to impeach the president last week, but a second vote is expected on Saturday.
“Isolation is now inevitable,” said Kang Won-taek, a professor of political science at Seoul National University. He added: “It is not that the People Power Party never wanted to impeach him (in principle), but last week it was too early to make a decision when there was so little information available about his motives.
“But there is now mounting evidence, including this public rhetoric, that the president actually did so out of personal conviction,” Kang said.
Yun, who is he? Subject to a travel ban While under investigation on rebellion charges, he said that ordering martial law was an administrative decision that could not be examined by law enforcement agencies.
The president also said that on the night of the martial law decree, he sent troops to the country's electoral commission to inspect its systems for signs that North Korean hackers had tampered with the April parliamentary elections. The opposition parties won.
Yoon's defiant appearance comes after senior military commanders told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that on the night of the martial law attempt, the president issued direct orders to physically prevent lawmakers from voting to reject his decree.
Special Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Kwak Jung-geun testified that Yoon asked him to “break down the door and drag the lawmakers out” because they “had not reached a quorum yet.”
If the impeachment motion passes, it must be approved by the country's Constitutional Court. In the meantime, the President is suspended from his duties, and power is transferred to the Prime Minister on an interim basis.
The court is supposed to issue its ruling within 180 days of the parliamentary vote, but this deadline is not binding.
