South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized to the people of the country on Saturday. Addressing the nation late at night, he said that I bow my head and apologize to the people for my decision. I have handed over everything to my party. Now I will do whatever the party decides.
In fact, this week the President had imposed martial law in the country. Martial law remained in effect for only six hours, as a vote was held in the National Assembly (Parliament) and the President’s order was overturned. Since then, he has been the target of the main opposition Democratic Party and some other small parties. Impeachment has also been brought against him. Let’s read his full address…
He said, ‘My fellow citizens, I declared emergency martial law on December 3 at 11 pm. About two hours later, at about one o’clock on December 4, I ordered the lifting of martial law. I withdrew the armed forces. I did this as per the resolution of the National Assembly. After this, I called a cabinet meeting late at night and lifted martial law.
“As the head of the state, martial law was declared out of desperation, but the process caused anxiety and distress to the people,” he said. I am deeply sorry for this. I sincerely apologize to those who were hurt by this. I will not shirk my legal and political responsibility for this declaration of martial law. There is talk of reimposing martial law, but let me make it clear that there will never be another martial law.
He said, ‘My fellow citizens, I will hand over my tenure to my party to stabilize the country. My party and government will be responsible for the management of the country’s affairs in the future. I would like to once again bow my head and apologize for the trouble caused to the people.
What reason did Yole give for imposing martial law?
Yun Suk Yeol had said that he announced martial law to protect the country’s liberal democracy from ‘anti-regime forces’ and ‘threats posed by North Korea’. However, he did not give any further information on his decision. Meanwhile, it was being speculated that Yeol’s real displeasure was with South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, which had recently cut 4.1 trillion won from the country’s 677 trillion won budget for next year’s expenditure. On this the President had said that the opposition has started cutting the expenditure on all the important needs for running the country.
What’s next for Yole?
After this entire incident, the pressure on President Yoon Suk Yeol is increasing. The opposition parties have given him an ultimatum to either resign from his post or be ready to face impeachment proceedings. South Korea’s main labor union has announced an indefinite strike until Yeol resigns. The Sangh has accused him of taking anti-democratic steps. At the same time, President Yole’s own People’s Power Party (PPP) has termed his move to impose martial law as terrible and has demanded that the responsibility of those involved in this decision be fixed.