South Korean president clings to power after martial law U-turn

AFP | Seoul

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol clung to power yesterday, with his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law stunned the world.

Yoon suspended civilian rule late Tuesday and deployed troops and helicopters to parliament only for lawmakers to vote down the measure and force him into a U-turn in a night of protests and drama.

Seoul’s allies were alarmed -- Washington said it found out via television -- and the opposition quickly filed an impeachment motion saying Yoon “gravely violated the constitution and the law”. A vote is set for Saturday at around 7:00 pm (1000 GMT).

The opposition holds a large majority in the 300-member legislature and requires only a handful of defections from Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) to secure the two-thirds majority needed for impeachment.

But yesterday, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said that while he had demanded Yoon leave the party over his “unconstitutional martial law”, he would block the impeachment motion.

“All 108 lawmakers of the People Power Party will stay united to reject the president’s impeachment,” party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said.

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung told Bloomberg that deposing Yoon could still be a challenge.

The situation remains in a “state of flux”, Lee said.

According to a poll issued yesterday by Realmeter, 73.6 percent of respondents supported the impeachment.

Thousands of protesters continued to rally in central Seoul and near the parliament yesterday evening demanding the president step down.

If the impeachment motion passes, Yoon will be suspended pending a verdict by the Constitutional Court. If the judges give the nod, Yoon will be impeached and new elections must take place within 60 days.

Bad memories

Yoon, who has lurched from crisis to crisis since taking office in 2022, has not been seen in public since his televised address in the early hours of Wednesday.

Local media quoted his office as saying he would not make any statement yesterday.

Yesterday, his office said that Defence Minister Kim Yonghyun had resigned, but other key allies, including Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, remain in office.

Prosecutors have also banned Kim from leaving the country, Yonhap news agency reported.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, were grilling senior figures, including army chief of staff General Park An-su, who acted as Yoon’s martial law commander.