South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has apologized for declaring martial law earlier in the week ahead of an expected impeachment vote in parliament.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday apologized for his short-lived declaration of martial law earlier in the week, as he now prepares for a parliamentary vote on whether to impeach him.
Yoon said in a televised address Saturday morning that he will evade legal or political responsibility for the declaration and vowed not to make another attempt to impose it, according to The Associated Press. The president, a conservative, said he would leave it to his party to offer a path forward amid the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.”
“The declaration of his martial law was made out of my desperation”, Yoon said. “But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot.”
In his martial law declaration on Tuesday, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” blocking state affairs and pledged to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.
