<\/a>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe president tried to “use this chance to arrest them and wipe them out”, said director Hong Jang-won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Han said Yoon had planned to jail arrested politicians in a detention centre in Gwacheon, a city south of Seoul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He expressed concern that “extreme actions”, such as the martial law declaration, could be repeated if Yoon remained in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“[These are] putting the Republic of Korea and its people at great risk.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Koreans spent another day waiting to hear about the fate of their president on Friday, as the impeachment vote loomed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t