On December 12, 2024, South Korea’s National Assembly confirmed that six opposition parties had jointly submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his controversial declaration of martial law on December 3. The opposition parties are pushing to bring the impeachment motion to a vote on Saturday.
Yoon Defends Martial Law Decision Amid Growing Protests
Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration has led to widespread protests and calls for his resignation. The main opposition Democratic Party argues that the decree amounted to an act of rebellion. In response, Yoon defended his actions, claiming that it was an act of governance, not rebellion. He vowed to “fight to the end” against impeachment attempts and escalating investigations into his decision.
Yoon, a conservative, said he implemented martial law as a warning to the Democratic Party, accusing them of undermining the government’s agenda. He labeled the party as a “monster” and “anti-state forces” for using their legislative power to challenge top officials, obstruct the government’s budget, and for their perceived sympathies toward North Korea.
Yoon’s Defiant Response to Opposition
“I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralyzing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon stated. He rejected accusations that his martial law decree was rebellious, asserting that it was a necessary measure to maintain order, including the deployment of nearly 300 soldiers to the National Assembly.
However, the Democratic Party quickly dismissed his defense as an “expression of extreme delusion” and a “declaration of war against the people.” Kim Min-seok, head of the party’s task force, accused Yoon of trying to provoke pro-Yoon riots from far-right groups. The Democratic Party is now focused on securing the impeachment motion’s passage in the upcoming vote.
The impeachment motion faces an uncertain future, as the opposition parties combined hold 192 seats, just eight short of the two-thirds majority required for the motion to pass in the 300-member National Assembly. The earlier attempt to impeach Yoon failed, as most lawmakers from his governing People Power Party boycotted the vote.
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