South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the arrest of his own ruling party’s leader Han Dong-hoon when he declared martial law on Tuesday night.
The arrest list also included the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, as well as three opposition lawmakers, the National Intelligence Service deputy director said.
The president tried to “use this chance to arrest them and wipe them out”, said director Hong Jang-won.
The revelation came as the country’s political parties held emergency meetings throughout Friday, with MPs planning to bring a vote to impeach Yoon. The motion, which is scheduled for Saturday, will pass if two-thirds of MPs vote for it.
The opposition have a majority in the 300-seat parliament but need the support of at least eight ruling party MPs to secure the 200 votes required for the impeachment motion to pass.
In the first clear sign his own party may now vote with the opposition, the leader of Yoon’s ruling party called for his swift suspension on Friday, saying he posed a “great danger” to democracy if he remained in power.
Han Dong-hoon, chief of the People Power Party (PPP), had earlier in the week said his party would not support the opposition’s impeachment motion.
But on Friday he announced there was “credible evidence” that Yoon had ordered the arrest of key politicians – including himself- on “anti-state charges” on Tuesday.
Han said Yoon had planned to jail arrested politicians in a detention centre in Gwacheon, a city south of Seoul.
He expressed concern that “extreme actions”, such as the martial law declaration, could be repeated if Yoon remained in office.
“[These are] putting the Republic of Korea and its people at great risk.”
South Koreans spent another day waiting to hear about the fate of their president on Friday, as the impeachment vote loomed.
In the afternoon, there were reports the president was heading to parliament, which his office denied. But opposition MPs lined up to block entry to the assembly, chanting “impeach, impeach”.
Earlier, special forces commander Kwak Jong-kuen had assured parliament he would refuse to follow such an order if martial law was declared again, as the opposition have been suggesting it might be.
Kwak said on Tuesday night he had rejected orders to remove MPs from the assembly floor when they were gathering to vote down the martial law declaration.
“I ordered soldiers not to enter the floor… I ordered that no live ammunition be given out [and] that no harm must come to the civilians,” he said. [BBC Lives]