Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol blamed the “malicious” opposition for his decision to declare martial law, telling a court yesterday that their refusal to applaud him or shake his hand exposed their plans to “destroy” his government.
The former prosecutor plunged democratic South Korea into political turmoil when he declared martial law on Dec. 3 last year, suspending civilian rule and sending troops to parliament.
The attempt only lasted six hours as the opposition-led parliament defied troops to vote it down, later impeaching him over the move.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Yoon was detained in the middle of last month on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested.
He is regularly being transported from prison to hearings at the Constitutional Court, which is to determine whether his impeachment is upheld.
At yesterday’s hearing — likely the penultimate one — Yoon said that the opposition had failed to offer him due respect while he was in office.
“No matter how much they dislike me, it is the basic principle of dialogue and compromise to listen to me, and give me a round of applause for my budget speech in parliament,” the 64-year-old told the court.
Opposition lawmakers “did not even enter the main hall, and I had to give a speech to a half-empty parliament,” he said.
Such a gesture was “deeply malicious” and exposed the “opposition’s intent to destroy my government,” he added.
He then complained that opposition lawmakers attending another parliament address “turned their heads away ... and refused to shake hands.”
In his martial law declaration, Yoon labeled the opposition “anti-state elements” intent on insurrection, saying the decree was required “to safeguard constitutional order.”
Yesterday’s hearing is widely expected to be the last one before the court rules whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment, a move that would trigger a fresh presidential election within 60 days.
Outside, Yoon’s supporters held “Stop the Steal” signs.
They have borrowed US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric to support unproven claims that South Korean elections — dominated by the opposition — were manipulated by shadowy foreign forces.
Much of Yoon’s impeachment trial has centered on the question of whether he violated the constitution by declaring martial law, which is reserved for national emergencies or times of war.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
RSS