South Korean president vows to ‘fight to the end’ in defiant speech

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to “fight to the end” as he faces calls to step down over his failed attempt to impose martial law, defending his actions and lashing out at his political opponents in a defiant speech.

In a lengthy national address, Yoon accused “anti-state forces” in the opposition-controlled parliament of paralyzing the government and undermining the rule of law. He largely repeated comments he made last week when he announced the surprise martial law order, saying it was necessary to protect democracy.

“The opposition party is doing a crazy sword dance saying the declaration of martial law is a crime of insurrection,” Yoon said. “Is it really true?”

Yoon apologized again to those who were “surprised and anxious” after his martial law declaration, and said he would “face impeachment or investigation with dignity.”

Yoon, who faces a second impeachment vote on Saturday, said the opposition had tried to bring down his administration by pursuing the impeachment of dozens of government officials since he took office in 2022 for a single five-year term, leading many to resign.

“The impeached government officials, even if they are innocent, are suspended from their work for a long time from the time of prosecution of their impeachment until the judgment,” he said. 

Characterizing the opposition as abusing their constitutional authority, Yoon said he decided to exercise his presidential authority in line with the country’s constitution.

He said the intent behind his order “was to protect and maintain the constitutional order and national constitution by informing the people about the crisis situation of the country.” 

Without providing evidence, Yoon also said for the first time that communist-ruled North Korea, which technically remains at war with the South, hacked into South Korea’s National Election Commission last year. He said the independent agency had refused to cooperate with investigators and inspectors seeking to safeguard its system, raising questions about the integrity of the results of April’s parliamentary election, which the liberal opposition won in a landslide.

The National Election Commission was one of the places where martial law troops were deployed last week.

Yoon, 63, is under criminal investigation over the short-lived martial law declaration, which plunged the East Asian democracy and key U.S. ally into chaos. The order banned all political activity and censored the news media, and troops were deployed to the legislature in Seoul, the South Korean capital.

Lawmakers defied a security cordon around the building to vote unanimously to reject the order, which Yoon lifted early Dec. 4, about six hours after he announced it.

Yoon’s comments on Thursday were his first since he apologized for issuing the order on Saturday ahead of an impeachment vote, saying he would leave his fate in the hands of his conservative People Power Party (PPP).

PPP lawmakers boycotted the impeachment vote, causing the motion to fail and angering protesters and opposition lawmakers demanding that Yoon step down.

The party says that Yoon has effectively been suspended from duty and that it will “restore order” by ensuring his early departure from office, working with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in the meantime to manage state affairs.

Yoon’s hold on power appears to be slipping. After the president’s address Thursday, the leader of his party said he must be impeached.

“Basically, the speech was a rationalization of this situation and de facto confession that he has committed rebellion,” PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said. “I propose that PPP adopt voting for the impeachment as our party platform.”

Han, who said he did not know about the national address in advance, said he was ordering an emergency meeting to expel Yoon from the party.

“I believe this is the time to make clear where we stand,” he said. “This is a very serious situation, and what he said in his national address cannot be accepted by the people, and we also cannot accept it from the standpoint of democracy.”

The PPP’s newly elected floor leader, Kweon Seong-dong, said he continued to oppose impeachment as well as convening the ethics committee over Yoon’s party membership.

“I believe we should let the president decide for himself whether to stay with the party or leave it,” said Kweon, a veteran politician who is close with Yoon.

Roh Jong-myung, a spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party, said that while it was a positive sign that Han recognized the seriousness of the situation, “he is too late.”

The next impeachment vote is set to be held Saturday around 5 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). Though the opposition controls parliament, it is eight seats short of the 200 it needs for the bill to pass, and it remains unclear whether lawmakers from Yoon’s party will attend the vote.

If Yoon is impeached, he will be suspended from office while the Constitutional Court holds a trial, leaving the world’s 10th-largest economy in political uncertainty potentially for months.

Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.