More martial law backlash in South Korea: Defense minister steps down
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law fiasco could spell his political doom.
Yoon's move to impose martial law earlier this week for the first time since 1980 was swatted down by angry opposition lawmakers, who are planning an impeachment vote against Yoon on Saturday.
Protesters demanding his resignation have surrounded Seoul's National Assembly. And the U.S., South Korea's most powerful ally, has left Yoon in the cold, saying it was not informed of the declaration beforehand.
On Thursday, Yoon's Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, resigned. Kim recommended the declaration to Yoon, according to impeachment documents targeting Yoon and South Korea's interior minister. He also ordered troops deployed to Parliament, according to Vice-Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho – almost 300 troops stormed the building after the declaration, South Korea's secretary general said.
Kim Seon-ho apologized for the order during a Thursday parliamentary hearing, saying he "opposed the mobilization of military forces under martial law."
The chief of investigations of South Korea's national police told the hearing that the force launched a probe into Yoon, his interior minister, and the outgoing defense minister over a complaint accusing them of treason and other crimes related to the declaration filed by opposition parties and activists.
U.S. says Yoon 'badly misjudged'
Meanwhile, the U.S., which maintains one of its largest military bases in South Korea, said it wasn't informed by Yoon of his plans to invoke martial law.
Yoon "badly misjudged," Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday. "I think the memory of previous experiences of martial law have a deep and negative resonance in South Korea."
Although the declaration will likely stay political and not move into the military realm, "it is likely that the next few months, the ROK will be in a challenging place," he added, referring to the country as the "Republic of Korea."
Yoon reversed the martial law decree hours after he announced it late Tuesday, caving to demands from his ruling party and a Parliamentary vote demanding he take it down.
Yoon initially said the measure was needed to protect the country from "North Korean communist forces," to get rid of "despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces," and to "protect the free constitutional order."
Yoon's party, People Power, has failed to push through a budget proposal amid a protracted political battle. And Yoon was already in political hot water – his approval ratings slipped below 20% last week, and his party, People Power, badly lost an April parliamentary election, with opposition parties taking around two thirds of the body's seats.
Contributing: Reuters