South Korean president will ‘fight until the last minute’

(Keystone-ATS) The opposition-controlled Parliament, which plans to submit a new motion to vote on Saturday to remove him from office, “has become a monster destroying the constitutional order of liberal democracy,” Mr. Yoon blasted in a speech television.

“I will fight with the people until the last minute,” insisted the conservative leader, whose popularity plunged to 13% after his coup. Since his election in 2022 with the narrowest margin in the country’s history against the leader of the Democratic Party, Mr. Yoon has never had a majority in the National Assembly.

Citing in particular difficulties in passing his budget, he stunned the country by imposing martial law by surprise on the night of December 3 to 4, before being forced to repeal it six hours later under pressure from Parliament and from the street.

Obstructed search

He narrowly escaped a motion for dismissal by the National Assembly on Saturday, saved by his party. But the Democratic Party has set a second vote in this direction for Saturday 5:00 p.m. local time. If eight MPs from Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) support this new motion, it could be adopted. At the first attempt on December 7, only two voted for the motion. Since Tuesday, three others have announced that they will join.

“I apologize again to those people who must have been surprised and worried due to martial law […] Please believe in my warm loyalty to the people,” the president declared Thursday, assuring that he “would not evade [sa] legal and political responsibility regarding the proclamation of martial law.”

Targeted by an investigation for “rebellion”, Mr. Yoon, 63, is prohibited from leaving the territory, just like his former ministers of defense and interior. Two senior police officials were also arrested. On Wednesday, South Korean police said they were obstructed in a search of presidential offices.

The Democratic Party has warned that it will file a complaint for insurrection against its services if they continue to obstruct the application of the law.

Thousands of demonstrators

Popular pressure remains strong: thousands of demonstrators gathered Wednesday evening in front of Parliament, singing K-pop songs while brandishing colorful light sticks and signs demanding the dissolution of the PPP “which supports the insurrection”.

On Tuesday, a PPP working group proposed a road map on the president’s removal. She envisages Mr. Yoon’s resignation in February or March, with a new presidential election in April or May. This plan has not yet been accepted by the entire PPP. Even if that were the case, it is unlikely that the opposition would give up trying to remove President Yoon from office.

According to the PPP, the president left governance to his party and to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

During martial law, helicopters and soldiers were deployed to parliament to prevent deputies from meeting there and voting to lift it. But 190 of them managed to enter and unanimously adopt the end of this state of exception.

Former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun was accused by opposition lawmakers of ordering drones to be sent to Pyongyang, apparently to create a casus belli with the North that would have justified martial law.

Incarcerated since Sunday in particular for “abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights”, Mr. Kim, according to the authorities, attempted suicide in detention on Tuesday evening.