South Korean President Remains Defiant as Impeachment Odds Jump
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would fight until the last minute to defend himself and accused the opposition of trying to paralyze his administration in a defiant speech Thursday as the chief of his own party called for his impeachment.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would fight until the last minute to defend himself and accused the opposition of trying to paralyze his administration in a defiant speech Thursday as the chief of his own party called for his impeachment.
Yoon said the purpose of his martial law declaration last week was to send a warning to the opposition by letting the public know about their “anti-state” moves and their sympathies for North Korea.
“I wanted to thereby prevent the collapse of the constitutional order of a free democracy and normalize state functions,” Yoon said in a televised address.
The comments come with the president’s weakening grip on power looking closer to ending as more ruling party members come out in support of impeachment moves against him.
Yoon’s People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon said earlier Thursday that the only way to get the president to stand down was to impeach him. Han added that ruling party members should vote according to their conscience, indicating that he wouldn’t try to organize a boycott of a renewed impeachment vote expected Saturday.
The benchmark Kospi stockmarket index pared earlier gains of as much as 1.1% after the start of Yoon’s comments to be up 0.4%. The won was down 0.1%.
The president is fighting to stay in his role after his brief declaration of martial law last week stunned the nation and its allies. The shock move has sparked political chaos, initially spooked financial markets and fueled public outrage.
Yoon said he ordered the dispatch of just a small number of troops on the day of the declaration to maintain order, without arming them. He also said he planned to pull out the troops if the parliament voted to lift the martial law.
In parliamentary hearings commanders have said Yoon ordered the military to drag lawmakers out of the chamber.
Yoon said his declaration was an “emergency measure” to save the country, and that labeling it as an insurrection would threaten the country’s judicial system.
With assistance from Youkyung Lee and Jiyeun Lee.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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First Published:12 Dec 2024, 07:16 AM IST
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