South Korea’s ruling party chief shows support for suspending presidential powers of Yoon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s ruling party chief said Friday that it’s necessary to suspend the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The comments by People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun on Friday suggest that his party would change its earlier opposition to the impeachment of President Yoon over his imposition of martial law this week.

The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach Yoon on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night. Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.

Han stressed the need to suspend Yoon’s presidential power and responsibilities, saying he has received intelligence that Yoon had attempted to use troops to arrest and detain major politicians during martial law.

Han said it was crucial that Yoon’s presidential duties are suspended swiftly, saying that the president 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.”

Han earlier said he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he criticized Yoon’s declaration as “unconstitutional.” Han said there is a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”

Impeaching the president would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties together have 192 seats. Parliament’s rejection of martial law passed unanimously Wednesday with support from 18 PPP lawmakers who belong to an anti-Yoon faction in the party.

If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential power. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over presidential responsibilities.