South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday looked increasingly likely to be unseated after the head of his ruling party demanded he be stripped of office for briefly imposing martial law.
If Yoon remains, “there is a significant risk that extreme actions similar to the martial law declaration could be repeated, which could put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger,” said Han Dong-hoon, head of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP).
Opposition MPs have been holed up in parliament until a vote on Yoon’s impeachment scheduled for this evening, fearing the embattled president might launch one desperate final attempt to remain in power.
Photo: Bloomberg
“With the impeachment vote set for tomorrow, the hours leading up to it are extremely precarious,” opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said.
“Tonight will be the most critical period,” he said at the National Assembly, where buses have been strategically parked to stop helicopters from landing, sources said.
Yoon declared martial law late on Tuesday and sent soldiers and helicopters to the parliament in a doomed bid to stop MPs from voting down his suspension of civilian government.
Photo: AFP
The opposition on Wednesday put forward the impeachment motion — now scheduled for a vote today — but Han initially said he would oppose it. However, the once staunchly loyal head of Yoon’s PPP yesterday broke with the president.
“Considering the newly emerging facts, I believe that a swift suspension of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s duties is necessary to safeguard the Republic of Korea and its people,” Han said.
The opposition bloc holds 192 seats in the 300-strong parliament, while the PPP has 108. A successful vote would suspend Yoon from office pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court.
Han’s U-turn was “significantly influenced by the gravity of the situation, particularly the mobilization of intelligence agencies to arrest politicians,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.
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