South Korean president vows to ‘fight to the end’

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has defended his failed attempt last week to impose military rule on the country as the leader of his party signals it is preparing to support his impeachment on Saturday.

In only his second public appearance since his doomed martial law gambit, Yoon on Thursday morning lashed out at critics, calling them “anti-state forces”, and suggested North Korea had helped leftwing opposition parties secure victory in parliamentary elections.

“I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralysing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.

His defiance followed a speech by Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s conservative People Power party, who said the president had not abided by an agreement to transfer decision-making over state affairs to his cabinet, leaving impeachment as the only means to protect the country’s democracy.

“We have tried to look for other options that reduce uncertainties that may be tied with impeachment, but the [basis] for that was that the president agree to early resignation from office,” Han told reporters. “But as the president has no intention to do so, other options are not viable.”

Han’s announcement suggests the president’s political fate could be resolved within days, following a week of turmoil during which neither the government, the party nor the presidential office could confirm who was in charge of the country.

Eight out of 108 People Power lawmakers must vote for an impeachment motion if the National Assembly is to secure the required two-thirds majority for it to pass. The party boycotted an impeachment vote last week, but a second vote is expected to be scheduled for Saturday.

“Impeachment is now inevitable,” said Kang Won-taek, a professor of political science at Seoul National University. “It is not that the [People Power party] never wanted to impeach him [in principle], but last week was too early for them to take a decision when there was still little information available as to his motives.

“But now there is growing evidence, including this public address, that the president really did do this out of his own conviction,” said Kang.

Yoon, who is subject to a travel ban as he is investigated on insurrection charges, said his martial law order had been an administrative decision that could not be scrutinised by law enforcement agencies.

The president also said that on the night of his martial law decree, he had dispatched troops to the country’s electoral commission to inspect its systems for signs that North Korean hackers had manipulated April parliamentary elections in which opposition parties triumphed.

Yoon’s defiant appearance comes after senior military commanders told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that on the night of the martial law attempt, the president had issued direct orders for lawmakers to be physically prevented from voting to reject his decree.

Special forces commander Lieutenant General Kwak Jong-geun testified that Yoon had told him to “break open the door and drag lawmakers out” because “they have not reached a quorum yet.”

If an impeachment motion is passed, it must then be approved by the country’s Constitutional Court. In the meantime, the president is suspended from duties, and authority is passed to the prime minister on an interim basis.

The court is supposed to deliver its verdict within 180 days of the parliamentary vote, but this time limit is not binding.