South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has criticized his political adversaries as “anti-state forces,” claimed that North Korea has interfered in the nation’s elections, and defended his brief martial law order as a legitimate action to safeguard democracy.
Mr. Yoon stated that the opposition was “performing a dance of madness with swords” by attempting to remove a democratically elected president from office, just nine days following his failed bid to grant extensive powers to the military.
“I will fight to the end,” he proclaimed during a lengthy televised address. “Whether they move to impeach me or investigate me, I will confront it all head-on.”
These remarks, his first following an apology on Saturday and a commitment to leave his future in the hands of his political supporters, coincided with the ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader declaring that if Mr. Yoon did not resign, an impeachment was necessary.
Mr. Yoon is facing a second impeachment vote in parliament, anticipated on Saturday, following the first vote’s failure a week earlier due to a boycott by most members of the ruling party.
If the impeachment is successful, the case would be forwarded to the Constitutional Court to assess the validity of Mr. Yoon’s presidency—a process that could leave Asia’s fourth-largest economy, and a significant U.S. ally, in a state of political uncertainty for up to six months.
The president is also under investigation for alleged insurrection regarding the declaration of martial law on December 3, which he revoked hours later, igniting the most significant political crisis in South Korea in decades.
Reflecting on his justification for declaring emergency rule, Mr. Yoon remarked that the “criminal groups” disrupting state functions and undermining the rule of law must be stopped at all costs to prevent them from seizing control of the government.
Demonstrators from a labor group call for Yoon Suk Yeol to step down.
He was alluding to the opposition Democratic Party, which has obstructed some of his initiatives and made accusations of governmental misconduct, though he provided no evidence of any criminal activities.
Kim Min-seok, a member of the Democratic Party leadership, criticized Mr. Yoon’s address as a “manifestation of extreme delusion” and urged members of the president’s ruling party to proceed with impeachment.
North Korean Hack
Mr. Yoon also elaborated on an alleged cyber intrusion by North Korea into the National Election Commission (NEC) last year, again without offering any evidence.
He asserted that intelligence agents detected the attack; however, the independent commission allegedly refused to cooperate fully in the subsequent investigation and system inspection.
This breach raised concerns regarding the integrity of the April 2024 election, in which his party faced a significant loss, and led him to declare martial law, he noted.
A screen displays photographs of Yoon Suk Yeol and other ministers during a plenary session at the National Assembly.
The NEC stated that it had consulted with the National Intelligence Service last year to tackle “security vulnerabilities,” but asserted that election manipulation was “effectively impossible.”
Following Mr. Yoon’s martial law declaration, troops entered the election commission’s computer server room, as shown by closed-circuit TV footage, although it remains unclear whether any equipment was removed.
Mr. Yoon’s party experienced a severe defeat in the April elections, which allowed the Democratic Party to gain overwhelming control of the single-chamber assembly.
Despite this, the opposition still requires the support of eight PPP members to successfully impeach the president.
Mr. Yoon defended his martial law declaration as a “symbolic” action aimed at revealing an opposition conspiracy to “completely destroy the country” and undermine the alliance with the United States.
