South Korea's ruling party now believes it is 'necessary' to suspend President Yoon
South Korea's ruling party, the People Power Party, announced Thursday that it now believes it is “necessary” to suspend President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Its leader, Han Dong-hoon, announced that the party was retracting its former backing of the president due to "newly revealed facts."
In light of the new information about President Yoon, the conservative party felt the "prompt suspension of his duties is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people,” Han said at a briefing.
Han said he had “confirmed through credible sources,” that President Yoon ordered the South Korean Defense Counterintelligence Commander to arrest key politicians who were anti-state forces.
The change of heart from the People Power Party came two days after South Korea's main opposition party called for the president's resignation, claiming that they would begin impeachment proceedings if he refused.
"If President Yoon does not step down immediately, we will immediately begin impeachment proceedings in accordance with the will of the people," a spokesperson for the party said Tuesday. "We will fight to the end together with all the people to protect the democracy and constitutional order of the Republic of Korea."
Opposition lawmakers then moved on Wednesday to impeach the president, and the motion is making its way through the National Assembly, with a vote expected Saturday.
Concurrent to the launch of the opposition party's impeachment effort, President Yoon dismissed Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun -- who had been a key ally during the president's brief imposition of martial law, which was declared and lifted on Tuesday.
"If President Yoon continues to serve as the president of the Republic of Korea, there is a high risk that extreme actions such as this emergency martial law will be repeated, which will put the Republic of Korea and its people at great risk," Han said.
He also pointed out, "He is not even admitting that this illegal martial law is wrong."
On Thursday, however, it was difficult to determine how ruling party members would vote when it came to the president's potential impeachment; shortly after Han’s briefing, several senior members said there hadn't been enough discussion within the party.
