South
Korea president defends martial law decree and vows to ‘fight to the end’
Yoon Suk
Yeol disputes insurrection charges and calls martial law decreee an ‘act of
governance’ amid reports of a second attempt by police to raid his office
Guardian
international staff
Thu 12 Dec
2024 05.19 GMT
South
Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to “fight until the end” attempts
to remove him from office after his short-lived imposition of martial law, as
police reportedly again attempted to raid his office as they investigate him
over allegations of insurrection.
In a defiant
and lengthy TV address on Thursday, Yoon defended his shock decision last week
to impose martial law – a move designed to suspend political activities and
press and civic freedoms – describing it as a legitimate “act of governance”
and denied attempting to foment insurrection.
Two days
before the national assembly is expected to vote a second time on Yoon’s
impeachment, he repeated claims that he had been trying to defend the country
from anti-state forces.
“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.
He added
that his martial law declaration, which lasted just six hours before parliament
overturned it, had been meant to defend the liberal democracy and
constitutional order against attacks from the liberal opposition.
South
Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday that police had attempted to
search Yoon’s office, a day after its first raid was thwarted by presidential
security guards. It wasn’t immediately clear if the second raid had been
successful.
Speculation
that South Korea’s political future could be decided via the ballot box
increased after the ruling party selected Kweon Seong-dong, a veteran lawmaker,
as its new floor leader. Despite being close to Yoon, Kweon said he would
prepare for “a presidential election that could possibly be held soon”.
In his
address, Yoon claimed his martial law decree did not amount to rebellion and
could not be the subject of a criminal investigation.
“The
opposition is now doing a knife dance of chaos, claiming that the declaration
of martial law constitutes to an act of rebellion. But was it really?” Yoon
said.
“I apologise
again to the people who must have been surprised and anxious due to the martial
law. Please trust me in my warm loyalty to the people.”
Yoon, a
conservative whose time in office has been marked by controversy, much of it
centering on his wife, survived an opposition-led impeachment vote last weekend
after all but three members of his People Power party refused to take part.
His
statement came hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic party was
expected to submit a new impeachment motion that reports said would go to a
vote on Saturday evening.
The leader
of Yoon’s own party, Han Dong-hoon, said on Thursday that the president should
be immediately suspended from his duties after declaring the short-lived
martial law last week. Han said the only way to do so is for the ruling party
lawmakers to vote for impeachment.
Yoon’s 3
December martial law decree has generated political chaos and protests calling
for his resignation.
On
Wednesday, Yoon’s office resisted a police attempt to search the compound.
The
investigation is focusing on whether Yoon and other top military and government
officials involved in imposing martial law committed rebellion. A conviction
for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death.
Earlier this
week, Yoon’s former defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, was arrested on
allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power.
He became the first person to be formally arrested over the martial law decree.
Kim, one of
Yoon’s close associates, has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon
and sending troops to the national assembly to block lawmakers from voting on
it. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter a parliament chamber and they
unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the cabinet to lift it before
daybreak on 4 December.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário