Ruling Party District Chairpersons: "Martial Law Declaration Disregards Constitution and People... Yoon Must Be Expelled if He Refuses to Resign from Party"

Defense and Ministry of the Interior and Safety Ministers Must Initiate Investigation

Some local party chairpersons of the People Power Party demanded on the 4th that President Yoon Seok-yeol, who caused the emergency martial law situation, resign from the party, and urged that if he refuses to leave, the party should hold an ethics committee meeting and expel him. They also called for an investigation into Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who recommended the declaration of martial law to President Yoon.

Twenty-one local party chairpersons of the People Power Party, known as the party's moderate faction, announced this in a statement titled "We demand the president's resignation from the party, the resignation of all cabinet members, and an investigation into Minister Kim Yong-hyun" on the morning of the same day.

In the statement, they said, after apologizing to the public, "We devoted ourselves to the birth of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration in the spring of 2022 under the banner of justice and fairness. We fought together against the opposition party's violence in the National Assembly," adding, "However, the declaration of martial law that ignores the constitution and the sovereign people is absolutely unacceptable."

They continued, "For the Republic of Korea and its people, we must make a serious decision. We ask the president to leave the People Power Party," and "If he refuses to resign, the party leadership should refer the president to the ethics committee and take expulsion measures."

They also urged the president to apologize, the cabinet members to resign, and for investigations to begin into Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, and others.

Furthermore, they added, "The People Power Party will exist only with the people, for the people, and by the power of the people."

The 21 local party chairpersons of the People Power Party who signed the statement include Kim Geun-sik, Kim Young-woo, Kim Young-joo, Kim Jong-hyuk, Kim Jun-ho, Kim Hye-ran, Ryu Je-hwa, Park Sang-soo, Seo Jeong-hyun, Oh Shin-hwan, Yoo Ui-dong, Yoon Yong-geun, Lee Jae-young, Lee Jong-cheol, Lee Chang-geun, Lee Hyun-ung, Jo Soo-yeon, Choi Ki-sik, Choi Don-ik, Ho Jun-seok, and Hwang Myung-joo.

On the 14th, the revised bill for the 'Special Investigation on First Lady Kim Geon-hee' is being passed solely by the opposition party in the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Kim Hyun-min