Views: 6
South Korea’s impeached president blames main opposition party for martial law decree
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol blamed the main opposition Democratic Party’s aim to “destroy” his government as the reason for his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3.
Yoon said Tuesday that Democratic Party legislators “did not applaud or shake his hand” after he gave a speech on the budget plan, the Seoul-based Segye Ilbo newspaper reported.
“No matter how much they dislike me, it is the basic principle of dialogue and compromise to listen to me and give me a round of applause for my budget speech in parliament,” Yoon said during the latest in a series of hearings at the Constitutional Court which will determine whether his impeachment is upheld, adding the opposition legislators “didn’t even enter the main hall, and I had to give a speech to a half-empty parliament.”
He blamed the Democratic Party for the martial law decree on Dec. 3, saying such actions exposed their aim to “destroy his government.”
Yoon earlier claimed that election fraud was one of the reasons for the martial law declaration.
Baek Jong-wook, former third vice administrator of the National Intelligence Service, who testified Tuesday did not comment on the allegations while Kim Yong-bin, secretary general of the National Election Commission, dismissed them, according to local media.
Yoon is under criminal investigation for abuse of power and leading an insurrection, making him the first sitting president to be arrested. He is also subject to a travel ban.
Suspended from office since Dec. 14, when parliament voted for his impeachment, his case is now before the Constitutional Court, which has up to six months to decide whether to remove him from office or reinstate him.
Yoon was first detained on Jan. 15 and formally arrested on Jan. 19 in a widening probe into the botched martial law decree, which he defended. He was indicted on Jan. 26.
The impeached president’s final hearing is set to take place on Thursday, although it is in the court’s jurisdiction to schedule other hearing sessions.
YENISAFAK