South Korea ruling party leader says country risks ‘great danger’ unless President Yoon suspended

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol could put citizens in “great danger” if he is not suspended, the head of the ruling party said on Friday, increasing the likelihood that parliament will vote to impeach the president over Tuesday’s failed martial law declaration.

“[If] President Yoon continues to hold the office of the presidency, there is a significant risk that extreme actions similar to the martial law declaration could be repeated, which could put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger,” the head of the People Power party, Han Dong-hoon, told an emergency party leadership meeting.

Yoon shocked the nation, and his own party, on Tuesday when he announced he was imposing martial law in order to root out “anti-state forces” and overcome obstructionist political opponents.

He reversed course about six hours later after parliament, including some members of his party, voted to oppose the decree.

Han said he had confirmed that Yoon had directed the arrest of key political figures during the brief martial law period.

The main opposition Democratic party has scheduled an impeachment vote for the president on Saturday evening, and the national police have launched an investigation into Yoon over allegations of insurrection filed by an opposition party and activists.

On Thursday, the ruling party said it was against impeachment, but Han suggested that stance may be shifting in light of “credible evidence” that Yoon had intended to arrest and detain political leaders at Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.

“I said yesterday that I would try not to pass this impeachment in order to prevent damage to the people and supporters caused by the unprepared chaos, but I believe that President Yoon Suk Yeol’s immediate suspension of office is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people in light of the newly revealed facts,” Han said.

He did not explicitly call for impeachment or respond to reporters when asked for clarification.

“Considering the newly emerging facts, I believe that a swift suspension of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s duties is necessary to safeguard the Republic of Korea and its people,” Han said.

Han said Yoon had not taken any personnel actions against military officials who had “illegally intervened”.

“Furthermore, he does not acknowledge that this illegal martial law is wrong,” he said.

Han was previously regarded as a close associate of Yoon as they spent years working together as prosecutors and he served as Yoon’s first justice minister. But after Han entered party politics and became PPP leader, their ties soured badly.

People Power Party’s chief Han Dong-hoon (C) speaks during an emergency supreme committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea Photograph: YONHAP/AFP/Getty Images

Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree.

The PPP was holding an enlarged meeting with rank-and-file lawmakers to discuss the Yoon’s impeachment.

Cho Kyoung-tae, a senior ruling party lawmaker who supports Yoon’s impeachment, told reporters that each party lawmaker must now decide “whether they want to take the people’s side or become collaborators of martial law forces.”

Others however said they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, which triggered the implosion of the conservative party and a victory by liberals of the presidential and general elections.

Yoon Sang-hyun, a five-time ruling party lawmaker, said he still opposed impeachment.

“We cannot impeach the president tomorrow and hand over the regime to Lee Jae-Myung’s Democratic Party. It is not for the sake of protecting President Yoon Suk Yeol, but for the sake of the Republic of Korea’s system and our children’s future. I cannot participate in the impeachment of the president tomorrow,” Yoon told reporters.

Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, said she believed the people had already psychologically impeached Yoon.

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said the declaration of martial law was a rebellion waged by the president in order to maintain or extend his power.

“It’s an act of insurrection,” he said. “It’s a pro-military coup.”

Fearing another attempt to declare martial law, opposition lawmakers were rotating through parliament’s plenary session hall to block any such attempt, a Democratic Party official said.

With Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse