South Korea President Yoon apologises for martial law declaration; to let party decide his term

SEOUL - South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Dec 7 morning apologised for causing a public stir by

declaring martial law

and promised there would not be a second martial law declaration, he said in a televised address.

He said at 10am local time (9am Singapore time) that he would not seek to avoid legal and political responsibility for his decision, which he said was born of desperation.

The speech was the embattled leader’s first public appearance since he rescinded the martial law order early on Dec 4, just six hours after it was declared, after Parliament defied military and police cordons to vote against the decree.

He added that he would let his party decide on his future position.

Mr Yoon said: “I sincerely apologise to the citizens who were greatly distressed.

“I will leave it up to our party to stabilise the political situation in the future, including my term of office.”

South Korea’s ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon

said after Mr Yoon’s address that the President was no longer in a position to carry out public duty and his resignation was now unavoidable.

South Korea’s main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung

said that he was disappointed with Mr Yoon’s address.

“There is no other way than the President’s immediate resignation and early resignation through impeachment,” he said.

The impeachment requires support from two-thirds of the 300-member assembly to pass, which means at least eight of the 108 legislators from Mr Yoon’s own

People Power Party (PPP)

must vote for it.

Lawmakers will vote on the main opposition Democratic Party’s motion to impeach Mr Yoon, who shocked the nation late on Dec 3 when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers in order to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and overcome obstructionist political opponents.

On Dec 6, Mr Han said the President was a danger to the country and needed to be removed from power, increasing the pressure on him to quit even though PPP members later

reaffirmed their formal opposition to his impeachment.

Mr Han was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Dec 7, local Yonhap News reported. Under the Constitution, if Mr Yoon resigns or is impeached, then the prime minister, who was appointed by Mr Yoon, becomes South Korea’s interim president.

Some PPP members urged Mr Yoon to resign before the vote, saying they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then President Park Geun-hye, who left office following months of candlelit protests over an influence-peddling scandal. Her downfall triggered the implosion of the party and a victory by liberals in presidential and general elections.

In scenes reminiscent of those protests, thousands of demonstrators holding candles assembled outside Parliament on Dec 6 night demanding Mr Yoon’s impeachment.

More demonstrations are expected on Dec 7 ahead of the vote.

Prosecutors, the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials have all launched probes into Mr Yoon and senior officials involved in the martial law decree, seeking to pursue charges of insurrection and abuse of power, among others. REUTERS, AFP