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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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South Korea's governing party leader stressed the need to suspend President Yoon Suk Yeol's constitutional powers for imposing martial law, making Yoon's impeachment more likely.
President Yoon Imposes Martial Law
Late Tuesday, President Yoon imposed martial law in a struggle against the opposition parties who control parliament. He accused his opponents of sympathizing with communist North Korea and he vowed to eliminate "anti-state" forces.
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Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, said in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers, that Yoon called after he imposed martial law and ordered him to help the spy agency detain key politicians.
Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting, said that these key politicians included Han, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik. Kim said Hong told lawmakers that he refused Yoon's orders.
Cho Taeyong, director of the spy agency, told reporters that such an order that Hong described would have come to him, rather than Hong, and that he never received any orders from Yoon to detain politicians.
Yoon quickly lifted martial law early Wednesday after the National Assembly overruled the decree. Martial law only lasted for about six hours.
Push to Impeach Yoon
Opposition parties are pushing for a parliamentary vote on Yoon's impeachment on Saturday as they believe his martial law decree was "unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup."
During a governing party meeting on Friday, the leader of the People Power Party (PPP), Han Dong-hun, expressed support for swiftly suspending Yoon's presidential duties and power.
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Han said Yoon poses a "significant risk of extreme actions, like reattempting to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger."
Yoon made no immediate response to Han's comments and he hasn't made public appearances since he made a televised announcement declaring that martial law was over.
Han's remarks on Friday were a shift from his earlier comments that he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he thought Yoon's martial law decree was "unconstitutional."
At the time, the party leader said there was a need to "prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos."
Thousands of protestors flooded the streets of South Korea's capital city of Seoul Wednesday, calling for Yoon to resign and be investigated.
Are There Enough Votes to Impeach Yoon?
To impeach Yoon, 200 out of the 300 National Assembly members, would have to support the motion. The opposition parties have 192 seats combined and the PPP has 108 seats.
Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party. Eighteen lawmakers in his faction voted with the opposition to overturn Yoon's martial law decree.
If Yoon is impeached, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over Yoon's presidential duties if he is impeached.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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