South Korea’s ruling party leader calls for suspension of president’s powers in dramatic reversal

By Yoonjung Seo, Ivan Watson, Ava Ko, Alex Stambaugh and Nectar Gan, CNN

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — The leader of South Korea’s ruling party said Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeoul needs to be immediately suspended from duty to protect the country from “grave danger,” in a dramatic reversal of opinion that compounds the pressure building on Yoon ahead of a impeachment vote in parliament.

The apparent U-turn by Han Dong-hoon, chief of Yoon’s own People Power Party, comes after he received “credible evidence” that Yoon had ordered the arrest of key politicians during the short-lived martial law imposed on Tuesday night, Han told reporters Friday.

“In light of these new emerging facts, I have concluded that it is necessary to suspend President Yoon Suk Yeol’s powers promptly to protect South Korea and its people,” said Yoon, who had earlier opposed the impeachment citing the risk of unrest and chaos.

“If President Yoon continues to hold the presidency, there is a significant risk that extreme actions like this martial law declaration could be repeated, putting South Korea and its citizens in grave danger,” he added.

Yoon’s late night martial law decree – which only lasted a few hours before being struck down by lawmakers – was met with shock and anger across the country, with protesters and opposition figures demanding his impeachment.

Han’s comments on Friday are the latest sign that support for Yoon is wavering within his own party, which has criticized his declaration of martial law but has not expressed outright support for impeachment.

Jehua Ryu, deputy director of the People Power Party Strategy Planning Headquarters, said later on Friday that Han was not calling for Yoon’s impeachment. “Suspension is not impeachment. There are various ways to suspend President Yoon’s authority,” he told CNN.

Ryu added that Han is meeting with Yoon on Friday afternoon.

Han had earlier vowed to work to prevent the presidential impeachment to “avoid unprepared chaos and harm to the people.”

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Han criticized the main opposition party for moving forward on its efforts to impeach the president, accusing the liberal Democratic Party of “prioritizing their political interests over the potential damage and instability this rushed impeachment could bring to the people.”

Nevertheless, Han said he had no intention to defend Yoon’s mistakes and had requested the president to quit the People Power Party.

Han, who has openly criticized Yoon’s decree as “unconstitutional,” said he met with the president on Wednesday and told him that what happened Tuesday evening had “left a big scar on Korea and our party.”

‘Maturity of South Korea’s democracy’

Like many high-ranking officials, ruling party politicians and presidential aides, Han was not notified in advance of the martial law declaration. Instead, he found out about it on TV along with the rest of the country.

“I was completely shocked. My first thought was: this is a serious problem,” he told CNN.

As the leader of the ruling party, he felt the responsibility to “set things right,” he said.

Han rushed to his party’s office, gathered about ten lawmakers and raced to the National Assembly before the military took full control, pushing through police officers who tried to stop him and appeared at a loss of what to do with the spiraling situation.

In the end, Han and his colleagues were able to join the parliamentary vote that struck down Yoon’s martial law order unanimously.

“The eighteen (ruling party) lawmakers who voted were there because I brought them along. To clarify, more members wanted to participate, but they couldn’t get in due to the military’s restrictions,” Han said.

The declaration of martial law carries a heavy historical weight in South Korea, which has spent the last four decades building itself into a robust democracy with frequent protests and protected freedoms – a hard-won victory after a long, bloody fight against a string of military dictatorships.

Despite the political turmoil Yoon’s martial law decree had unleashed, Han said its swift reversal speaks to the strength of the country’s democracy.

“South Korea has a strong tradition of resolving crises democratically and through solidarity. As you’ve seen, we managed to address the issue of martial law quickly, which demonstrates the maturity of South Korea’s democracy,” he said.

Some South Korean lawmakers have been camping out in the parliamentary building since Tuesday evening amid fears that Yoon could potentially declare martial law again.

Yoon faces growing calls to resign as lawmakers debate moving forward on a motion to impeach the president, with a vote expected in the next two days.

Under the South Korean constitution, an impeachment motion must be approved by two thirds of the 300-person legislature to pass onto consideration in one of the country’s highest courts, the Constitutional Court. The Democratic Party, minor opposition parties and independents have a combined 192 seats, meaning they would need the support of at least eight members of Yoon’s People Power Party to pass the motion.

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This story has been updated with additional information.