After President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his declaration of martial law in another shocking address to the nation Thursday, his onetime “wingman” and the leader of the ruling party, Han Dong-hoon, called for the president to be impeached and expelled from the party.
Following Yoon’s televised announcement at 10:23 p.m. on Dec. 3, Han immediately came out and said he and his party would block the enactment of martial law. He also said the president needed to be stopped from wielding his presidential powers. But Thursday's remark was the first time that Han has mentioned impeachment -- a loaded word for South Korean conservatives after former President Park Geun-hye was impeached in 2017 -- as a way to do that.
“The only way to solve the problem is now to remove the president from office through impeachment,” Han said. Asked by a reporter to clarify if he was in favor of impeachment, Han responded with a resounding “yes,” adding, “There is no other way.”
Prior to this point, Han said he believed Yoon’s “early resignation” would be a better alternative to impeachment, as it would be a more “predictable, expeditious way” to unseat the president.
In a 30-minute, prerecorded speech, Yoon said he was forced to resort to martial law as a warning to the opposition for repeatedly obstructing what he viewed as key bills and policies -- such as one for punishing foreign espionage, referring, in particular to Chinese spies who were caught surreptitiously filming South Korean military and intelligence facilities.
Yoon said he sent troops to raid the National Election Commission after it had refused full inspections by the National Intelligence Service despite cyberattacks by North Korea.
The president said his short-lived martial law was not intended to prevent the National Assembly from carrying out its duties.
The apparent self-defense from Yoon, which came more than a week since he shocked the country with what many South Koreans felt to be an unwarranted declaration of martial law, led to more from within the ruling party publicly turning on the president.
At a meeting of the People Power Party held shortly after the president’s address, Han said he believed his party should vote in support of Yoon’s impeachment at the second vote slated for Saturday.
“In the address, which I am sure shocked many of us here, the president has basically admitted to committing insurrection by rationalizing his imposition of martial law,” the ruling party leader said.
Han urged the lawmakers to “show up at the next impeachment vote and vote with your conscience."
“I trust the lawmakers of our party to vote for the country and the people,” he said.
“It is clear that President Yoon has no intention of stepping down himself. The address by the president today shows he is unwilling to surrender his position and submit to the judgment of the people,” the ruling party leader said. “President Yoon should no longer have control over the running of state affairs or command of the military.”
Han also called for convening the party’s ethics committee to expel the president from the party.
Han was met with protest by few lawmakers in the room.
“Nobody in our party agreed to or knew beforehand that the president was going to impose martial law. Imposing martial law was clearly wrong and inappropriate,” said Rep. Lee Chul-gyu, a lawmaker considered a key member of the pro-Yoon faction. “However, I do not think we should be concluding ahead of the investigation and the decision of the court that what the president did in fact constitutes insurrection.”
Over the week, Reps. Cho Kyun-tae, Kim Sang-wook, Bae Hyun-jin, Kim Jae-sup, Jin Jong-oh and Han Ji-ah of the ruling party have openly supported impeaching the president.
Some prominent ruling party figures, including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, have joined the row, saying Yoon “should no longer be in charge of the country.”
The second vote on a impeachment bill against Yoon is set to take place Saturday. The previous one, held just four days after the declaration of martial law, was declared invalid after most of the ruling party boycotted it.
