South Korea’s ruling People Power Party chief asks president to leave party
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SEOUL - The leader of South Korea’s ruling party said on Dec 5 he had asked President Yoon Suk Yeol to leave the party, even as he vowed to block an opposition-led impeachment motion.
Mr Han Dong-hoon told reporters he had “demanded the president’s resignation from the party”. He added that his party was “not trying to defend the president’s unconstitutional martial law”.
The floor leader of South Korea’s ruling party vowed on Dec 5 that all their lawmakers would “unite” to defeat an opposition-led motion to impeach Mr Yoon over his brief declaration of martial law.
Meanwhile, Mr Yoon’s office said the president will not make any public statements on Dec 5, after he plunged the country into political chaos.
“President Yoon will not make any statements today,” a presidential official told reporters, as the opposition set an impeachment vote for 7pm (6pm Singapore time) on Dec 7.
“All 108 lawmakers of the People Power Party will stay united to reject the president’s impeachment,” Mr Choo Kyung-ho said at a live-streamed party meeting.
The opposition needs eight ruling party lawmakers to vote with them for the impeachment bill to pass
If the motion passes, Mr Yoon will be suspended pending a verdict by the Constitutional Court. If the judges give the nod, Mr Yoon will be impeached and new elections must happen within 60 days.
Mr Yoon, who has lurched from crisis to crisis since taking office in 2022, has not been seen in public since his televised address in the early hours of Dec 4.
On Dec 4, his office said that Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun had resigned, but other key allies including Interior Minister Lee Sang-min remain in office.
Mr Yoon’s martial law declaration was the first in more than four decades in South Korea and brought back painful memories of the country’s turbulent past. AFP, REUTERS
