President Yoon Suk Yeol accused opposition parties of “paralyzing state affairs with abuse of impeachments” and said he will “firmly face” impeachment or investigations during a public address to the nation Thursday morning.
In a prerecorded address televised around 9:45 a.m., Yoon said he was speaking “to clarify my position on the emergency martial law.”
“The opposition parties are currently dancing a frenzied sword dance, saying that the declaration of emergency martial law was a crime of insurrection, but is that really so?” asked Yoon. “Who are the forces currently paralyzing the government and disrupting the constitution of Korea?”
“For the past two and a half years, the giant opposition has not stopped inciting resignation and impeachment in order to oust the president elected by the people,” said Yoon. “They have not accepted the results of the presidential election.”
Yoon criticized the series of impeachments of public officials, including prosecutors, that the opposition, mainly the Democratic Party (DP), has railroaded during his time in office.
“They have paralyzed state affairs by abusing impeachment,” he said.
The president further accused the DP and opposition parties of launching a “political agitation offensive by proposing unconstitutional special prosecutor bills 27 times” and pushing for “legislation that allows criminals to give themselves a free pass.”
“The National Assembly, dominated by the giant opposition party, is not the foundation of liberal democracy but a monster that destroys the constitutional order of liberal democracy,” Yoon said. “If this is not a state of government paralysis and a national crisis, what is it?”
“Under the current law, there is no way to punish espionage by foreigners, and we have tried to revise the Criminal Act to correct this but have been blocked by the opposition,” said Yoon.
Accusing the opposition of “taking North Korea’s side” despite provocations, Yoon said he couldn’t “tell which country’s National Assembly this is.”
“The economy is also in a state of emergency,” said Yoon. “It is clear that the opposition is trying to extinguish even the growth of our country when looking at the details of the budget cut proposed by the DP for next year.”
Yoon also said he ordered Kim Yong-hyun, the former defense minister, to check the National Election System, the country’s election watchdog’s voting system, after a hacking attack by North Korea that was detected by the NIS.
He further stated that the intention of the martial law declaration was to “inform the people of the current crisis and appeal to them” and to “protect and restore the constitutional order.”
“The president’s exercise of the right to declare martial law is an act of governing that is not subject to legal judgment, such as the exercise of the right to pardon or the exercise of diplomatic rights,” Yoon said.
He closed the address by saying that whether the people decide to impeach or investigate him, he will “firmly face it.”
“I have already said that I will not avoid the legal and political responsibility regarding this declaration of martial law,” he said.
After Yoon’s public address, the DP criticized his remarks saying that they were “expressions of extreme delusion” and “a declaration of war against the nation.”
“The state of Yoon’s mentality was confirmed through the address this morning,” said DP Rep. Kim Min-seok at a press conference Thursday. “He is inciting the far-right by reading out his statement that he is likely to give the Constitutional Court when defending himself in impeachment. Yoon is also publicly ordering relevant parties to destroy evidence.”
“Yoon’s condition is very serious, so this is a dangerous situation where we do not know what will happen,” commented Rep. Jo Seung-lae, the DP’s chief spokesperson. “Accordingly, our party has decided to prepare with a serious and emergency determination until the impeachment is passed.”
Jo further called for investigative authorities to “immediately arrest” Yoon. Multiple other opposition lawmakers, including DP Rep. Park Ji-won, Kim Tae-nyeon and Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk, expressed outrage over Yoon’s public address the same day.
The National Election Commission also said in a statement that Yoon’s address proved that the occupation of the agency’s headquarters during the short-lived martial law on Dec. 3 was “unlawful,” and that the president is in “self-denial” of the election system that led to his own presidency.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
