South Korea’s president defends a short-lived martial law decree and rejects impeachment efforts

South Korea’s president defended his martial law decree as an act of government and denied charges of rebellion on Thursday, rejecting opposition-led impeachment attempts against him and investigations into the move last week

Yoon Suk Yeol’s televised statement on Thursday came hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party tabled a new impeachment motion against Yoon. The opposition plans to put the motion to a vote this Saturday.

His first attempt to depose Yoon fell last saturdaywith ruling party lawmakers boycotting a vote in the National Assembly.

Yoon’s December 3 martial law The declaration, the first of its kind in decades in South Korea, has sparked political chaos and protests calling for his expulsion. The decree led to hundreds of armed troops attempting to surround parliament and storm the electoral commission, although there was no violence or major injuries. He was forced to lift it about six hours later.

“I will fight to the end, to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralyzing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.

Yoon, a conservative, said his introduction of martial law was intended to issue a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he said has been paralyzing state affairs and destroying the country’s constitutional order. He said the deployment of less than 300 soldiers to the National Assembly was designed to maintain order, not to dissolve or paralyze it.

“A Knives Dance of Chaos”

Yoon called the Democratic Party “a monster” and “anti-state forces,” which he said repeatedly tried to use its legislative muscle to remove top officials, undermine government budgets and sympathize with North Korea.

“The opposition is now doing a knife dance of mayhem, claiming that the declaration of martial law constitutes an act of rebellion. But was it really?” Yoon said.

Yoon said his martial law decree was an act of government that cannot be investigated, he said, and does not amount to rebellion.

It is unclear how Yoon’s statement would affect his fate. Earlier on Thursday, the leader of his own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, said Yoon was making it clear he had no desire to resign voluntarily and called on party members to vote for his removal in the upcoming vote the National Assembly.

Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. By law, a president can only declare martial law in times of war or similar emergency situations, but they say South Korea was not in such a situation. They argue that the deployment of troops to seal off the National Assembly to suspend its political activities amounted to rebellion because the constitution does not allow a president to use the military to suspend parliament under any circumstances.

Yoon’s statement was seen as an about-face from his previous position. last saturday he apologized for the martial law decreesaying he would not avoid legal or political responsibility for it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a path through the country’s political turmoil, “including issues related to my mandate.”

On Wednesday, Yoon’s office resisted a police attempt to search for the compound.

The main purpose of the investigation is to find out whether Yoon and other senior military and government officials involved in the imposition of martial law committed rebellion, for which a conviction carries a maximum penalty of death.

Earlier this week, Yoon’s former defense minister was the first to be formally arrested under the decree, on charges of playing a key role in a rebellion and abuse of power.

Kim Yong-hyun, one of Yoon’s close aides, has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting on it. Eventually, enough lawmakers managed to enter a chamber of parliament and unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the cabinet to adjourn before dawn on December 4.