South Korean Defense Minister Kim is said to have supported President Yoon in declaring martial law. Now he has resigned. Yoon accepted the resignation. Impeachment proceedings are underway against him.
After President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law in South Korea, the country's defense minister has resigned, according to the presidency. He apologized and said: “All troops that performed duties related to martial law acted on my instructions and the responsibility for this lies with me.” He is said to have suggested to Yoon that martial law be declared.
The president “accepted Defense Minister Kim Yong Hun's resignation and approved his dismissal,” Yoon's office said. The South Korean ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung Hyuk, has been nominated as a candidate for the post of defense minister.
Country in chaos
Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday because of a budget dispute between the PP and the largest opposition party, the DP. “In order to protect a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist troops and to eliminate anti-state elements (…), I hereby declare martial law,” said Yoon in justification. Yoon lifted martial law a few hours after it was declared, but in doing so plunged the country into political chaos.
In a meeting early Thursday morning, the opposition submitted a motion to impeach Yoon in parliament. “This is an unpardonable crime – one that cannot be pardoned,” said Rep. Kim Seung-won. The opposition has a comfortable majority in the 300-seat parliament, but would still need some defections from the ruling PP party to get the necessary two-thirds majority.
According to party leader Han Dong Hoon, the PP wants to block the impeachment. “We will make every effort to prevent the passage of the impeachment motion,” he said at a live-televised meeting with party members. Han told reporters that he had asked the president to leave the party. His party is not trying to “defend the president's unconstitutional martial law,” he added.
Police want to investigate
The South Korean police announced that they had opened an investigation into alleged “riots” against the head of state. The investigation is ongoing, the head of the police's national investigation department, Woo Kong Suu, told MPs.
