 |
Cabinet members, except for Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo (fourth row, center), bow their heads after Democratic Party Rep. Seo Young-kyo asked them to apologize at the National Assembly on Wednesday. (Yonhap) |
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said he opposed President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration on Dec. 3 and regretted he could not keep Yoon's martial law imposition at bay.
"Ultimately, I could not stop (the martial law declaration)," Han told lawmakers at the National Assembly's plenary session Wednesday. "I feel regretful and remorseful."
Han's remarks preceded the Cabinet members' apology. Han and most other Cabinet members bowed in unison in a show of apology, except for Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo.
The prime minister also said it was his decision to convene a Cabinet meeting to express disapproval of Yoon's imposition of martial law and explain its aftermath, not to provide a legal justification for it.
Han recalled that all the Cabinet members attending the meeting had expressed disapproval, as the move could deal a significant blow to South Korea's economy, undermine its economic credibility and dampen public support. Han did not elaborate whether ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, alleged to be a key player behind the insurrection, also voiced opposition in sync with other participants.
Han was one of the 11 attendees at an emergency closed-door Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3 that lasted for five minutes just before Yoon's martial law declaration. Under the Constitution, a South Korean president's martial law declaration shall be referred to the Cabinet for deliberation, but does not require the Cabinet to assent.
Before his appearance at the National Assembly, Han said in a statement Wednesday morning that he "had been consistently against the declaration of martial law at night on Dec. 3." Han added he would bear his responsibility without excuse.
Justice Minister Park Sung-jae echoed Han's remarks, as he told lawmakers at the hearing of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he recalled no one at the closed-door Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3 supported the martial law declaration.
Police entry into the presidential office was initially blocked, as they tried to seize any record or proof of the troubling Cabinet meeting. The Interior Ministry has claimed that neither the ministry nor the presidential office had meeting minutes of the Cabinet meeting.
Park, along with Commissioner Cho Ji-ho of the Korean National Police Agency, is facing impeachment, as the National Assembly is to convene a vote Thursday. The main opposition party's lawmakers are likely to push for a vote that requires a simple majority, as the party occupies 170 parliamentary seats out of 300. The passage will suspend them from their respective posts.
This came as the National Assembly was set to float a second motion to impeach Yoon as the mastermind of an insurrection through the surprise imposition of martial law that triggered a six-hour late-night fiasco in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said in a notice to reporters that a motion to impeach Yoon is to be proposed again Thursday. The party plans to report the motion at a plenary session on Thursday and have the voting session convene at 5 p.m. Saturday.
An impeachment vote requires at least 200 votes in favor to suspend the 63-year-old conservative president from his post. He would then go on trial in front of the Constitutional Court.
Liberal opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung said nothing can stop the push for the impeachment of Yoon, adding that the National Assembly will work to "fulfill the people's demand on Saturday."
On Tuesday, the ruling People Power Party unveiled plans to push Yoon to resign from his post in February or March next year, in hopes that the next presidential election could take place in April or May, through what they describe as an "orderly and early retreat." Yoon's single term currently extends to May 2027, with the next presidential election to take place in March of the same year.
The ruling party has also moved to boycott the upcoming voting session as a bloc.
However, not all ruling party lawmakers are expressing approval of the plan. Until Wednesday afternoon as of press time, Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo, Bae Hyun-jin, Cho Kyoung-tae, Kim Jae-sub, Kim Sang-wook and Kim Yea-ji had expressed their intention to participate in the upcoming impeachment vote.
Three of the six -- Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Sang-wook and Kim Yea-ji -- cast their votes on Saturday's session, while all other People Power Party lawmakers walked out in a show of protest against the motion, rendering the vote invalid.
At least eight out of the 108 People Power Party lawmakers' votes in favor of the impeachment would be required for Yoon to be suspended immediately.
