South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday apologized for causing public anxiety and vowed he would not attempt a second martial law decree, in an apparent last-minute bid to save his presidency ahead of an impeachment vote.
In a televised address, Yoon said his decision to impose martial law late Tuesday was a "desperate decision made by me, the president, as the final authority responsible for state affairs."
"I deeply regret the anxiety and inconvenience this has caused to people. I sincerely apologize to the citizens who were greatly appalled by this," Yoon added in the two-minute speech, before bowing in front of the camera.
Yoon also said he will take "full legal and political responsibility" and will "leave the responsibility of stabilizing the political situation, as well as my term, to our party."
"The future governance will be jointly handled by our party and the government," he added.
It is not clear how Yoon would yield any presidential authority to his ruling People Power Party, the PPP, analysts said, since there does not appear to be an established political process for doing so.
"The only way I know of that he can be relieved from duty is impeachment or resignation," said Ben Engel, who teaches political science and international relations at Dankook University outside Seoul.
Yoon, frustrated for months by what he saw as opposition attempts to obstruct his governance, declared martial law late Tuesday, claiming it was necessary to "crush anti-state forces" and "protect constitutional order."
Within hours, South Korean lawmakers overturned the decree, after fighting their way through police and military personnel who had been sent to the National Assembly Building.
The opposition, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, plans to vote on Yoon's impeachment late Saturday. For the measure to pass, eight members of the PPP must support it.
If Yoon is impeached, he would be immediately suspended while the Constitutional Court deliberates on whether to remove him from office, a process that could take weeks or months.
So far, only two PPP lawmakers have publicly said they will support impeachment. However, one of those lawmakers, Rep. Cho Kyung-tae, changed his mind and will no longer support the impeachment motion on Saturday, according to a South Korean media report.
Following Yoon’s speech, ruling party chief Han Dong-hoon called it impossible for the president to perform his duties as normal, noting that Yoon’s early resignation remains "inevitable," according to the Yonhap news agency.
In a surprise announcement on Friday, Han signaled he personally supports Yoon's impeachment, but later made clear this is not the official position of the party. Rep. Shin Ji-ho, a key member of Han’s party faction, later said he does not support impeachment.
As both sides held intense, closed-door discussions ahead of the impeachment vote, some PPP lawmakers have begun pushing for a compromise proposal, whereby South Korea’s constitution would be amended to shorten presidential terms to four years, rather than the current five.
Under such a rumored proposal, Yoon would apparently step down early and the powers of the presidency could be reduced in some manner.
However, opposition party lawmakers have given no indication that they would support such a deal.
"This is a cunning tactic only in order to buy time," Kim Joon-hyung, a lawmaker with the opposition Rebuilding Korea Party told VOA. "This regime, and the ruling party is dead and dysfunctional, even if the impeachment vote fails."
South Korea’s presidential office has not clarified Yoon’s remarks or whether he would support such an arrangement.
A Seoul-based law professor, who preferred not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the ongoing discussions, said there is no process by which the president can transfer the powers of the presidency to the party.
"But more importantly, I don’t think that’s what [Yoon] meant," he added. "I think he merely meant that he will follow whatever decision the party makes regarding how to stabilize the situation ... whether that refers to constitutional revision is unclear."
Yoon and his party may be trying to avoid a vacancy in the presidential office, because under such a scenario an election must be held, according to the constitution, he said.
"President Yoon seems to be trying everything he can to hang on to power, but the idea of him staying in office any longer seems totally out of sync with the public outrage right now," said Hans Schattle, a professor of political science at Seoul’s Yonsei University. "It isn't even clear that his own political party will be on board."
