The leader of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party (PPP), Han Dong-hoon, announced this Monday his resignation following the crisis within the political party after he openly supported the impeachment motion that was carried out over the weekend against the president, Yoon Suk-yeol, for having decreed martial law.
«I resign as leader of the PPP. “It has been impossible for me to fulfill my obligations as head of the party due to the collapse of the supreme council of the party,” he declared in a press conference in which he apologized “to all the people who suffered this situation of martial law” and those affected by the impeachment trial, remembering that he requested the resignation of the head of state.
Han has stressed that the decision to declare martial law was “a betrayal”, which is why he showed his support for the ‘impeachment’: «It is very painful when I think about our sympathizers who are suffering, but I have no regrets. “I have decided not to betray (the country) and its people no matter what happens,” he said, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The motion against Yoon was approved on Saturday with 204 votes in favor and 85 against, so that twelve PPP legislators deviated from the party leader’s order to vote for ‘yes’. Han then promised to continue his duties, but changed his mind when members of the supreme council expressed their decision to resign.
The newly elected leader of Parliament, Kweon Seong Dongwill be the interim leader of the party after Han’s resignation. The new leader may appoint the head of an emergency leadership committee of the political formation.
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