The leader of South Korea's ruling party on Thursday supported the party's stance to impeach embattled President Yoon Suk-yeol. The decision by Han Dong-hoon, chief of Yoon's own People Power Party, came after the president delivered a televised address to the nation on the same day, in which he sought to justify his hugely controversial decision to declare martial law last Tuesday which has plunged the country into political chaos.
In the address, Yoon insisted that the imposition of emergency martial law was reasonable and legal, and denied that the decision was a crime of civil strife.
In his speech, Yoon once again accused the opposition party of being an "anti-state force." Yoon also said that he had promised not to evade the political and legal responsibilities in the process of launching emergency martial law, but he said that whether it was an investigation or impeachment against him, he would respond resolutely and fight to the end.
Earlier in the day, Han called on his party's lawmakers to vote on Yoon's impeachment based on their own "conviction".
"We must stop further confusion. There is only one effective method now. In the next (impeachment motion) vote, our party's lawmakers should enter the assembly hall and take part in the vote based on their own conviction and conscience," said Han at a press conference.
The People Power Party had initially refused to back impeachment, hoping Yoon would resign from office instead. But its leadership said attempts to persuade Yoon had made no progress.
The South Korean parliament will vote again on the impeachment of Yoon on Saturday. Public opinion in the country says that the possibility of the impeachment passing the parliament is gradually increasing.
Meanwhile, South Korean police on Thursday launched a second raid on Yoon's office over his martial law declaration.
South Korea's ruling party leader supports Yoon's impeachment
