South Korea ruling party opposes impeachment despite its leader's stunning comments about president
Party leader Han Dong-hun said president wanted to arrest officials this week, still poses 'high risk'
South Korea's ruling party leader said President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be removed from power for trying to impose martial law, though members of his People Power Party reaffirmed late on Friday its formal opposition to impeaching the president.
Yoon shocked the nation — and his own conservative PPP — on Tuesday, when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers in order to root out what he called "anti-state forces" and overcome obstructionist political opponents.
Yoon rescinded the declaration about six hours later after parliament, including some members of his party, voted to oppose the decree.
The main opposition Democratic Party has submitted a motion to impeach Yoon and scheduled a vote in parliament for Saturday, scheduled to begin at 3 a.m. ET. The PPP has vowed to oppose the motion, a position it reaffirmed following a lengthy meeting of its lawmakers — at least some of whom would need to back it for the motion to succeed — on Friday night.
PPP leader Han Dong-hun had earlier suggested the party's stance on impeachment might be shifting, when he said there was "a high risk of extreme actions such as this emergency martial law being repeated" while Yoon remained in power.
He also cited "credible evidence" that Yoon had intended to arrest and detain political leaders at Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.
"I believe that President Yoon Suk Yeol's immediate suspension of office is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people in light of the newly revealed facts," Han said.
He did not explicitly call for impeachment or respond to reporters when asked for clarification.
The presidential office later denied any such order to arrest prominent politicians had been given, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Yoon's term would expire in 2027, but some PPP members urged Yoon to resign before the vote, saying they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, which triggered the implosion of the party and a victory by liberals in presidential and general elections.
"We cannot impeach the president tomorrow and hand over the regime to Lee Jae-myung's Democratic Party," PPP lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun told reporters.
Lee said the opposition party has been contacting and persuading PPP members to join efforts to impeach Yoon. He downplayed the significance of Han's comments, saying it will likely be "his individual opinion," noting that PPP's official position remains unchanged.
Yoon absent from meeting discussing his future
To succeed, an impeachment bill would need support from two-thirds of the 300-member assembly. Yoon's party has 108 legislators, so eight would have to side with the opposition for the bill to pass.
If parliament votes to impeach, the president is suspended from exercising his powers until an impeachment trial is held by the Constitutional Court. The prime minister serves as leader in an acting capacity.
Yoon has not been seen in public since rescinding martial law early on Wednesday and did not attend the PPP meeting on Friday.
Police have launched investigations into the president and Kim Yong-hyun, the defence minister who allegedly encouraged him to declare martial law and who has since resigned.
The defence ministry said three army commanders were suspended over the imposition of martial law, while military prosecutors were seeking to bar 10 officers from travelling overseas.
Details were slowly emerging about the chaos that engulfed Seoul on Tuesday night following Yoon's surprise declaration, which stirred painful memories of the country's long years of military rule following the Second World War.
Kwak Jong-geun, the special warfare commander, said he defied an order from then-defence minister Kim to drag lawmakers out of parliament and instead ordered his troops not to enter the area where lawmakers were meeting.
Yoon's approval ratings had swooned since his election, with damaging results in legislative elections earlier this year and a number of politically damaging stories. Yoon moved his presidential office to the defence ministry compound in central Seoul, a step estimated to cost $40 million, and his wife has been criticized for accepting luxury items as gifts
Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, said she believed the people had already psychologically impeached Yoon.
"Who could trust a president declaring martial law, almost like a child playing games, or entrust the nation to such leadership?" she said to Reuters on Thursday.
With files from CBC News and the Associated Press