South Korean president says he will not seek to impose martial law again

South Korea’s president said he is “very sorry” for causing public anxiety and inconvenience with his declaration of martial law earlier this week, and promised not to make another attempt to impose it.

President Yoon Suk Yeol made a public apology on Saturday, hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on a motion to impeach him.

Mr Yoon said he will not shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration, adding that he will follow the direction of his party to resolve the political crisis caused by his move.

It was not immediately clear whether the motion submitted by opposition lawmakers would get the two-thirds majority required for Mr Yoon to be impeached.

But it appeared more likely after the leader of Mr Yoon’s own party on Friday called for suspending his constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold the office and capable of taking more extreme action, including renewed attempts to impose martial law.

Impeaching Mr Yoon would require support from 200 of the National Assembly’s 300 members. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined.

That means they would need at least eight votes from Mr Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP). On Wednesday, 18 members of the PPP joined a vote that unanimously cancelled martial law 190-0 less than three hours after Mr Yoon declared the measure on television, calling the opposition-controlled parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs.

The vote took place as hundreds of heavily-armed troops encircled the National Assembly in an attempt to disrupt the vote and possibly to detain key politicians.

Parliament said on Saturday that it would meet at 5pm. It will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate influence peddling allegations surrounding Mr Yoon’s wife, and then on impeaching Mr Yoon.