PPP leader: South Korea’s President Yoon must be suspended

SEOUL: South Korea’s ruling party leader said President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be removed from power for trying to impose martial law, though members of his People Power Party reaffirmed late on Friday its formal opposition to impeaching the president.

Yoon shocked the nation – and his own conservative PPP – on Tuesday, when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers in order to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and overcome obstructionist political opponents.

He rescinded the declaration about six hours later after parliament, including some members of his party, voted to oppose the decree.

The main opposition Democratic Party has submitted a motion to impeach Yoon and scheduled a vote in parliament for Saturday. The PPP has vowed to oppose the motion, a position it reaffirmed following a lengthy meeting of its lawmakers – at least some of whom would need to back it for the motion to succeed – on Friday night.

Acting Defence Minister Kim Seon-ho said reports that had swirled throughout Friday that there might be another attempt to impose martial law were not true.

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PPP leader Han Dong-hoon had earlier added fuel to those rumours, and suggested the party’s stance on impeachment might be shifting, when he said there was “a high risk of extreme actions such as this emergency martial law being repeated” while Yoon remained in power.

He also cited “credible evidence” that Yoon had intended to arrest and detain political leaders at Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.

“I believe that President Yoon Suk Yeol’s immediate suspension of office is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people in light of the newly revealed facts,” Han said.

He did not explicitly call for impeachment or respond to reporters when asked for clarification.

The presidential office later denied any such order to arrest prominent politicians had been given, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Some PPP members urged Yoon to resign before the vote, saying they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, which triggered the implosion of the party and a victory by liberals in presidential and general elections.

“We cannot impeach the president tomorrow and hand over the regime to Lee Jae-Myung’s Democratic Party,” PPP lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun told reporters.

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YOON NOT SEEN IN PUBLIC

To succeed, an impeachment bill would need support from two-thirds of the 300-member assembly. Yoon’s party has 108 legislators, so eight would have to side with the opposition for the bill to pass.

If parliament votes to impeach, the president is suspended from exercising his powers until an impeachment trial is held by the Constitutional Court. The prime minister serves as leader in an acting capacity.

Yoon has not been seen in public since rescinding martial law early on Wednesday and did not attend the PPP meeting on Friday.

Following media reports Yoon was on his way to parliament during the day, opposition lawmakers had poured out to the main lobby of the parliament building and set up a scrum to block him if he came.

The assembly speaker asked Yoon not to come to parliament even if he planned to. Yoon’s office denied any such plans.

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Police have launched investigations into the president and Kim Yong-hyun, the defence minister who allegedly encouraged him to declare martial law and who has since resigned.

Government and military prosecutors had also decided to conduct a joint investigation into the martial law decision, according to broadcaster YTN.

The defence ministry said three army commanders were suspended over the imposition of martial law, while military prosecutors were seeking to bar 10 officers from travelling overseas.

‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’

Details were slowly emerging about the chaos that engulfed Seoul on Tuesday night following Yoon’s surprise declaration, which stirred painful memories of the country’s long years of military rule following World War Two.

Kwak Jong-geun, the special warfare commander, said he defied an order from then-defence minister Kim to drag lawmakers out of parliament, and instead ordered his troops not to enter the area where lawmakers were meeting.

“I knew it would be disobedience, but I did not order that mission. I told them not to go in,” Kwak told an opposition lawmaker’s YouTube channel. Kwak also said he ordered his troops not to carry live ammunition.

The National Election Commission said in a statement on Friday that around 300 martial law forces had also entered its headquarters near Seoul and premises under its control across the country during the debacle.

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“The occupation of the National Election Commission, an independent organisation under the constitution, is a clear unconstitutional and illegal act that has no basis in the constitution or law,” the statement said.

Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, said she believed the people had already psychologically impeached Yoon.

Images of Ahn grappling with a soldier and grabbing hold of his gun outside parliament on Tuesday went viral on social media as a symbol of the country’s defiance against martial law.

“Who could trust a president declaring martial law, almost like a child playing games, or entrust the nation to such leadership?” she told Reuters on Thursday.

Yoon’s approval rating plunged to a new low of 13%, according to the latest Gallup Korea poll released on Friday.