South Korea’s Yoon seen to be unwavering as impeachment, calls for exit loom
Political figures who have met him three days after a short-lived martial law decree say the embattled leader still believes he has done nothing wrong
The embattled president on Friday held a meeting with People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon, who suggested Yoon was insistent he had done nothing wrong despite a failed bid to declare martial law on Tuesday night.
Returning to the National Assembly after an hour-long talk with Yoon, Han reported the president was still convinced his actions were meant to serve as a warning to opposition parties against further “legislative dictatorship”.
But National Intelligence Service (NIS) First Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, speaking to opposition lawmakers on the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, further provided damning details against Yoon.
Local media reported Hong as saying: “After President Yoon declared emergency martial law on Tuesday night, he called me and instructed, ‘Catch them all and clean up the mess.’”
Interfering with the National Assembly’s operations in South Korea amounts to a breach of the Constitution and violates the strict law governing the enforcement of martial law.
Amid fears of a second attempt by Yoon to declare martial law, the National Assembly on Friday took extraordinary precautions, parking buses and cars on the lawns surrounding the sprawling Assembly building to prevent military helicopters from landing.
