The leader of Korea’s ruling Civil Power Party, Han Dong-hun, and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo are holding an emergency meeting following an address by President Yoon Seok-yeol.
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On Saturday, Yoon Seok-yeol issued an address in which he apologized for imposing martial law in the country and said he would not impose it again amid the upcoming vote on his impeachment. He also said that he would not avoid political and legal responsibility in connection with the declaration of martial law.
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“The ruling party leader and the prime minister are holding an emergency meeting following Yoon’s apology,” the statement said.
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The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea at 17.00 Saturday is expected to open a plenary session at which it will vote on the issue of impeachment of the country’s President Yoon Seok-yeol, accused of attempting to violently seize power and exceeding official powers due to the introduction of martial law without proper grounds. and violations of the law.
The President of South Korea, late in the evening of December 3, read out an address in which he sharply criticized the United Democratic Party (UDP), which controls the South Korean parliament, declaring its course of initiating impeachment of a number of government officials and cutting the state budget for the next year as a “legislative dictatorship” and “anti-state actions” and also accusing the Democrats of trying to “change the liberal democratic regime.”
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Yun Seok-yeol said that in order to “defend the free Republic of Korea from the communist forces of North Korea,” the “complete eradication of pro-North Korean anti-state forces” is required, and therefore a martial law is declared. Subsequently, a martial law command was formed, on whose behalf an order was issued prohibiting, among other things, the work of Parliament, which had the power to abolish this state of emergency.
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Army special forces were sent to the National Assembly and tried to block the approaches to the building, but a significant number of deputies managed to get into parliament in advance, their supporters did not allow the military to get inside, and legislators unanimously adopted a resolution by 190 out of 300 votes demanding that the president lift martial law. At the same time, the decision was supported by both 172 deputies from the opposition and 18 deputies of the ruling Civil Power party, close to its current leader Han Dong Hoon, who has been in conflict with the president for a long time.
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As a result, a few hours later, Yoon Seok-yeol accepted the demands of parliament and lifted martial law, but did not abandon his position, demanding that the National Assembly “stop irresponsible actions that paralyze the functioning of the state due to incessant impeachments, legislative manipulation and budget manipulation.” The incident was over in just 6 hours.
