Yoon needs to be stopped from exercising power as president, says South Korea’s ruling party head

SEOUL – Ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said Friday morning President Yoon Suk Yeol should no longer be allowed to exercise his presidential powers.

Han called an emergency meeting of People Power Party leadership that day, and said he has damning evidence Yoon mobilized troops in a bid to arrest politicians over the hours martial law was still in effect.

“I learned last night the president ordered the defense counterintelligence commander (Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung) to arrest major political leaders, characterizing them as anti-state forces, and mobilized intelligence institutions in the process,” the ruling party leader said.

Han added he has “credible evidence” that the pointed to the president’s scheme on the night of martial law.

Han said he believes the troops led by Yeo planned to detain the politicians at the government complex compound in Gwacheon, near Seoul.

“I have said that to prevent this country from descending into a further chaos, I would try to stop the impeachment bill from passing this time. But based on what has been revealed, to protect South Korea and our people, I believe it is necessary to stop President Yoon from exercising his powers as president promptly,” he said.

The bill to impeach Yoon, introduced by the opposition, is set to be put to vote at around 7 p.m. Saturday. With Han’s U-turn, the bill now has support of both ruling and opposition parties.

Han immediately protested Yoon’s move when he declared martial law at around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday. The president’s decision was overruled in a bipartisan vote by the National Assembly about three hours later.

While Han recognized imposing martial law was unconstitutional, he said he was “cautious” about joining the opposition calls to impeach Yoon before today.