South Korean opposition plans new impeachment push

SEOUL

South Korea's main opposition party said on Sunday it will try again to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law.

Meanwhile, police arrested the defense minister in charge of the martial law operation, and the interior minister resigned. Both they and Yoon are being investigated for alleged insurrection.

Yoon averted impeachment late on Dec. 7 as huge crowds braved freezing temperatures in another night of protests outside parliament to demand the president's ouster.

Opposition parties proposed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes in the 300-member parliament to pass, but a near-total boycott by Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) doomed it to failure.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), said yesterday that they will try again on Dec. 14.

"Yoon, the principal culprit behind the insurrection and military coup that destroyed South Korea's constitutional order, must either resign immediately or be impeached without delay," Lee told reporters.

In exchange for blocking his removal from office, Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) said that it had "effectively obtained (Yoon's) promise to step down."

"Even before the president steps down, he will not interfere in state affairs, including foreign affairs," PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said on Sunday after a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

This will "minimize the confusion to South Korea and its people, stably resolve the political situation and recover liberal democracy," Han told reporters.

But Lee and the National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik, both from the opposition Democratic Party (DP), called the arrangement illegal on Dec. 8.