South Korean Presidential Office taken on December 3, 2024 shows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivering a speech to declare martial law in Seoul © AFP
FRANCE24 | Published December 12, 2024
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to “fight until the very last minute” amid an impeachment vote and martial law probe. Police raided his office over December’s turmoil, including deploying troops to parliament. Yoon, banned from foreign travel, faces an “insurrection” investigation into his inner circle.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday vowed to fight “until the very last minute”, in a defiant address defending his shock decision to declare martial law and deploy troops to the country’s parliament last week.
The South Korean leader is barred from foreign travel as part of a probe into his inner circle over the dramatic events of December 3-4 that stunned Seoul‘s allies and threw it into some of its deepest political turmoil in years.
Now staring down an impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday, Yoon vowed to “fight with the people until the very last minute”.
“I apologise again to the people who must have been surprised and anxious due to the martial law,” he said in a televised address.
“Please trust me.”
Saturday’s impeachment vote will take place at around 5:00 pm (0800 GMT).
It needs to win support from eight members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to secure the necessary two-thirds majority.
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SOURCE: www.france24.com
RELATED: S Korea’s President Yoon vows to ‘fight to the end’
BBC NEWS | Published December 12, 2024
Embattled South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has defended his shock decision to declare martial law last week, saying he did it to protect the country’s democracy.
In a surprise televised address on Thursday, he said the attempt was a legal decision to “prevent the collapse” of democracy and counter the opposition’s “parliamentary dictatorship”.
Yoon has suggested that he would not step down ahead of a second vote to impeach him in parliament on Saturday.
“I will stand firm whether I’m impeached or investigated,” he said. “I will fight to the end”.
The president and his allies are facing investigations on insurrection charges, and he and several of them have been banned from leaving South Korea.
On Thursday, the opposition-led parliament voted to impeach police chief Cho Ji-ho and justice minister Park Sung-jae. The two officials have been immediately suspended.
Unlike impeachment motions against presidents, which require 200 votes in the 300-strong National Assembly to be passed, other officials can be impeached with 150 votes.
In his address, his first since his apology over the weekend, Yoon denied that his martial law order was an act of insurrection, claiming that his political rivals were creating “false incitement” to bring him down.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
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