South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol has described his martial law proclamation as a desperate attempt to raise public awareness of the dangers posed by the opposition-controlled parliament, vowing overnight to work for political reform if reinstated.
The liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached Yoon, a conservative, after his December 3 martial law proclamation threw the country into political instability, rocked financial markets, and harmed its worldwide image.
He was arrested and indicted separately on rebellion charges in connection with his brief proclamation.
If convicted of rebellion, the defendant faces the death penalty or life in prison.
Yoon has denied any misconduct and blamed the political turmoil on the Democratic Party, the main liberal opposition, which has blocked his program and impeached key officials.
During his martial law announcement, Yoon referred to the assembly as “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces”.
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 insists that he had no intentions of disrupting assembly work and that deploying troops and police was meant to maintain order.
Massive rallies by opponents and supporters of Yoon have divided the streets of Seoul and other major South Korea 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 overnight, 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 suggested he could step down early before his single five-year terms ends in 2027 in the course of promoting political reform.
South Korea adopted the current system that limits a president to a single five-year term in 1987, ending decades of military-backed dictatorships.
