SEOUL, South Korea — The head of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s governing party on Friday signaled more openness to his removal as president for plunging the key U.S. ally into chaos with a short-lived declaration of martial law, reversing his position the day before an impeachment vote.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), had earlier said he opposed impeaching Yoon because it would only create more turmoil. But on Friday he said he had learned that Yoon ordered the arrest of prominent politicians in addition to declaring martial law, an order that was lifted six hours later after lawmakers voted to reject it.
“In light of these new revelations, I have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to suspend President Yoon from exercising his mandate to protect the South Korea and its people,” Han said, adding that Yoon was “not acknowledging his wrongdoings.”
If Yoon continues as president, Han said, “I fear that there will be a great risk of radical actions such as this state of emergency repeating, and he will put South Korea and its people in great danger.”
Han’s comments increased the likelihood that Yoon will be impeached when a vote is held around 7 p.m. local time Saturday (5 a.m. ET). The opposition bloc holds 192 of the unicameral legislature’s 300 seats, just under the two-thirds majority needed for the motion to pass.
The PPP, which repudiated Yoon’s martial law declaration, had asked him to leave the party but said earlier that it opposed the impeachment motion. Before Han changed his position, at least eight lawmakers from the PPP would have had to break with their party in order for it to pass.
Six opposition parties had proposed impeaching Yoon over the martial law order, which banned political activity and censored the media. If Yoon is impeached, he will be suspended from office until the Constitutional Court decides whether to uphold the motion, with a deadline of 180 days.
The deeply unpopular Yoon, whose approval rating was already at 19% before the emergency martial law, had blamed opposition lawmakers in his declaration, accusing them of paralyzing the government by seeking the impeachment of multiple government officials and slashing critical funding from next year’s national budget.
Opposition lawmakers have expressed concern that Yoon, who has not made any public appearances since lifting the order, might declare martial law a second time if he is impeached or even earlier.
“I feel that danger is imminent tonight,” Lee Jae-myung, leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, said Friday. “I have a gut feeling that something might happen again tonight or early morning tomorrow.”
Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho, whose predecessor resigned this week over his role in the martial law declaration, dismissed such concerns and said that even if Yoon made such an attempt, the Ministry of Defense and the South Korean military “would categorically reject it.”
Yoon’s special forces commander, Kwak Jong-keun, also said Friday that it would be impossible for Yoon to declare martial law again “because I will refuse to comply with any such order.”
In a call Thursday with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “deep concerns” about the martial law declaration and welcomed the lifting of the order.
“The Secretary conveyed his confidence in the democratic resilience of the ROK during this period, and noted he expects the ROK’s democratic process to prevail,” the State Department readout said, using an abbreviation for South Korea’s formal name, the Republic of Korea.
Blinken also reaffirmed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, which it views as an important bulwark against North Korea, China and Russia, and which hosts almost 30,000 American troops.
The U.S. confirmed Thursday that meetings of the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group and related tabletop military exercises that were planned in Washington this week had been postponed amid the turmoil in South Korea.
Meanwhile, more details emerged of the chaotic hours between Yoon’s declaration of martial law around 10:30 p.m. local time Tuesday and the lifting of the order around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
South Korea’s National Election Commission said Friday that after Yoon declared martial law in a surprise late-night TV address, about 300 troops infiltrated its headquarters and related facilities in what the commission called “a clear violation of the Constitution and the law.”
The soldiers confiscated the mobile phones of five people on duty and restricted access to the premises, the commission said, occupying its headquarters for about 3 hours and 20 minutes.
“While it has been confirmed that no internal materials were taken by the troops thus far, a thorough and continuous review will be conducted to verify any potential damages,” the commission said in a statement.
Kwak, the special forces commander, said some units at the National Election Commission stayed in their vehicles while others “secured and guarded the external perimeter as instructed.”
He said they were in the area for about 20 minutes and then moved to withdraw when Kwak issued an order to halt operations at 1:09 a.m., around the same time lawmakers voted to reject the emergency martial law and ordered soldiers to leave the legislature in central Seoul.
Kwak said that no one entered the premises, and that there were no plans to detain or obstruct commission personnel.
“Basically, I halted the mission before any actions were carried out,” he said.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
