S Korean opposition will try again to impeach president Dec 14

SEOUL, Dec 08 (AFP/AP): South Korea's main opposition party will try again on December 14 to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, its leader Lee Jae-myung said Sunday.

"Yoon, the principal culprit behind the insurrection and military coup that destroyed South Korea's constitutional order, must either resign immediately or be impeached without delay," Lee told reporters. "On December 14, our Democratic Party will impeach Yoon in the name of the people."

President Yoon Suk Yeol's future remained uncertain Sunday even after surviving an impeachment vote over his brief imposition of martial law.

Yoon's party killed off an impeachment motion late Saturday even as huge crowds braved freezing temperatures to demand his ouster four days after he sent troops and helicopters to parliament.

But the deeply unpopular president's survival may be short-lived, with Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) saying that it had "effectively obtained (Yoon's) promise to step down" in exchange for blocking his impeachment.

"Through the orderly early resignation of the president, we will minimise the confusion to South Korea and its people, stably resolve the political situation and recover liberal democracy," PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said Sunday.

Former defence minister held

for martial law imposition

Prosecutors on Sunday detained a former defense minister who allegedly recommended last week's brief but stunning martial law imposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case.

The development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him in parliament, with most ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote to prevent the two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers. The main opposition Democratic Party said it will prepare a new impeachment motion against Yoon.

On Sunday, ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was taken into custody at a Seoul detention facility after undergoing an investigation by prosecutors, a law enforcement official said, requesting anonymity in line with privacy rules.

The official gave no further details. But South Korean media reported that Kim voluntarily appeared at a Seoul prosecutors' office, where he had his mobile phone confiscated and was detained. The reports said police searched Kim's former office and residence on Sunday.