Protesters carry a caricature depicting an imprisoned South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as they march to the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 12.Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press
In a defiant speech Thursday, embattled South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would “fight to the end,” refusing to resign as members of his own party edge closer to supporting his impeachment over a botched declaration of martial law last week.
Mr. Yoon’s attempted seizure of power plunged the East Asian nation into political chaos, sparking mass protests and calls for his immediate removal. An opposition measure to impeach him failed Saturday, however, after members of Mr. Yoon’s ruling People Power Party boycotted the vote.
PPP members – who voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Mr. Yoon’s martial law edict hours after it came into force – have been trying to massage the President’s removal so as to avoid an election that would most likely bring Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung to power.
But in a televised address Thursday, Mr. Yoon refused to resign, saying “whether they impeach me or investigate me, I will face it all squarely.”
Calling the martial law edict a “highly calibrated political judgment,” Mr. Yoon said he sought “to protect the nation and normalize state affairs” after the opposition-dominated legislature paralyzed government business by blocking his budget and investigating top officials.
He accused his opponents of “dancing the sword dance of madness” and said “criminal groups” had to be stopped from taking over the country, language that was reminiscent of his initial declaration. Top military and defence officials have already said they will refuse another such order.
Mr. Lee called Yoon’s remarks “a declaration of war” against the people. “It proved that impeachment is the fastest and the most effect way to end the confusion,” he said.
After Mr. Yoon’s speech, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon told members they should “adopt a vote for impeachment as party policy,” describing the President’s address as “akin to confessing to insurrection.” At least seven members of the party have now spoken in favour of forcing Mr. Yoon’s removal, just one shy of the eight lawmakers who must join with the opposition for an impeachment measure to reach the required supermajority in the National Assembly.
“We must stop further confusion. There is only one effective method now,” Mr. Han said at a news conference Thursday, adding party members should vote “based on their own conviction and conscience.”
Any successful impeachment in the National Assembly will see the case referred to the nine-member Constitutional Court, six of whom must rule in favour of removing the President. Three seats on the court are currently vacant, however, meaning Mr. Yoon’s impeachment would have to be unanimous, something which may be driving the President’s thinking as he weighs whether to resign.
If Mr. Yoon is removed, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
Mr. Han has long clashed with Mr. Yoon, but did not support his impeachment on Saturday, favouring a managed resignation instead. But he and other senior PPP figures have been alarmed at revelations in recent days of how close the country came to chaos as a result of Mr. Yoon’s attempted seizure of power.
According to military officials, special forces commandos were ordered to arrest top politicians and detain members of the National Assembly in order to prevent the body from voting to overturn Mr. Yoon’s martial law edict.
Mr. Yoon has denied trying to block the vote, but in a parliamentary hearing Tuesday, special forces commander Lieutenant-Geneneral Kwak Jong-geun said the President had called him personally and told him to “break the door down right now, get in there and drag out the people inside.”
Citing whistle-blowers within the armed forces, Democratic lawmakers have also accused Mr. Yoon’s now former defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, of seeking to spark a conflict with North Korea as a means of justifying martial law, which can only be imposed by the president during a state of emergency.
Mr. Kim resigned last week and has since been arrested on suspicion of insurrection. Jail officials said Wednesday he had been moved to protective custody after trying to take his own life.
Responding to Mr. Yoon’s speech Thursday, senior Democratic lawmaker Kim Min-seok accused him of “extreme delusion” and said his address was tantamount to “declaring war” on the people.
Several opposition lawmakers urged police – who are already investigating the President – to detain Mr. Yoon, warning he was a danger to the country.
“We cannot entrust a madman with the presidency for even a second,” Representative Park Jie-won wrote on social media. “He must be arrested immediately.”
As well as appealing to more conservative members of his party for support, Mr. Yoon on Thursday suggested North Korea had hacked the country’s National Election Commission, seeking to cast doubt on recent elections, which saw the opposition increase their majority in parliament.
The NEC immediately refuted this claim, saying Mr. Yoon was undermining an election system that he himself was elected by.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang finally broke its silence on Mr. Yoon’s martial law edict, with a short report in state media noting “social unrest” south of the border.
“The puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, who had already faced a serious crisis of governance and impeachment, declared martial law unexpectedly and unleashed the guns of the fascist dictatorship on the people,” state news agency KCNA said.
“His insane act, reminiscent of the coup during the military dictatorship decades ago, has drawn strong condemnation from all walks of life, including the opposition party, and further exploded the public’s fervour for impeachment.”
With files from Reuters.
Protesters in South Korea clashed with police near the home of President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday, after he stated that he would "fight to the end" against impeachment following his now-rescinded declaration of martial law.
Reuters