South Korea's Yoon defends his martial law decree as impeachment ruling nears

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In a final statement at his impeachment trial, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree that plunged the country into chaos as a bid to inform the public of the danger of the opposition-controlled parliament as he vowed Tuesday to push for political reform if reinstated.

Yoon spoke at the Constitutional Court as it wrapped up arguments in his impeachment trial. The court is expected to rule by mid-March on whether to remove Yoon from office or reinstate his presidential powers.

The liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached Yoon, a conservative, after his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law decree caused political turmoil, rattled its financial markets and hurt its international image. He has been separately arrested and indicted on rebellion charges in connection with his decree. If convicted, he would face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Yoon has denied any wrongdoing and blamed the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which obstructed his agenda, impeached many senior officials and slashed key parts of the government's budget bill, for the political crisis. During his marital law announcement, Yoon called the assembly “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”

“The reason why I declared martial law was because of desperation as I could no longer neglect a do-or-die crisis facing this country,” Yoon said. “I tried to inform the people of these anti-state acts of wickedness by the mammoth opposition party and appealed to the people to stop it with intense surveillance and criticism.”

After declaring martial law, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the assembly, but enough lawmakers still managed to enter an assembly chamber to vote down Yoon’s decree unanimously, forcing his Cabinet to lift it.

Yoon reiterated Tuesday that he had no intentions of disrupting assembly work and that deploying troops and police was meant to maintain order. But some commanders of military units sent to the assembly have testified that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent them from overturning his decree.

During the hearing, Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rai said that Yoon must be dismissed as he undermined the constitution by trying to seal the assembly and suppress its authority with armed troops. Jung also said Yoon's imposition of martial law disturbed public order because South Korea wasn't in an emergency that required such a drastic step.

“Yoon Suk Yeol is still refusing to have self-reflection and soul-searching and repeating sophistry and crafty remarks that say his emergency martial law was a high-level act of governance,” Jung said. “We should dismiss him as soon as possible to get the Republic of Korea back on track.”

Massive rallies by opponents and supporters of Yoon have divided the streets of Seoul and other major South Korean cities. Whatever the Constitutional Court decides, experts say it will likely further polarize the country and intensify its conservative-liberal divide. If Yoon is formally thrown out of office, a national election must take place within two months to find his successor.

During more than an hour of testimony Tuesday, Yoon said that he would push for political reforms and a constitutional revision to change the current presidential system if he regains his presidential powers. He also suggested stepping down before his single five-year term ends in 2027 to promote “political reform.”

It’s unclear whether and how Yoon’s statement could affect the court's ruling.

South Korea adopted the current system that limits a president to a single five-year term in 1987, following decades of military-backed dictatorships. After Yoon’s martial law stunt, there have been calls to change it. Some favor a parliamentary Cabinet system, others want a U.S.-style setup in which a president can run for a second four-year term or a system in which a president and prime minister split key responsibilities.