South Korea: Defence minister apologises, offers to resign over martial law turmoil

Seoul, Dec 4 (IANS) South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Wednesday apologised for causing public concern concerning President Yoon Suk Yeol's attempt to impose martial law and offered to resign.

The decision came after Yoon declared emergency martial law in an unexpected statement late Tuesday but subsequently lifted it hours later as the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to reject it, Yonhap news agency reported.

"I have offered my will to resign to the President, taking responsibility for all the turmoil caused by the emergency martial law," Kim said in a statement sent to reporters.

Kim, who reportedly proposed declaring martial law to Yoon, stressed that he should be held accountable and that all troops who executed martial law were simply following his orders.

Following the declaration, the military launched a martial law command that promulgated a decree and mobilised some 280 martial law troops to enter the National Assembly compound.

Kim said the ministry will continue to maintain firm readiness to guard national defence and public safety.

"Martial law has been lifted, and the people are recovering their daily lives, but the domestic political situation and security circumstances are not easy," he said.

"The defence ministry takes this situation very sternly and will make all efforts to ensure that defence operations are carried out without setbacks while stably managing confronting issues," Kim added.

Kim's apology came less than an hour after the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) proposed a motion to impeach him.

The DP is expected to report the motion to a parliamentary plenary session Thursday along with the impeachment motion for President Yoon Suk Yeol it introduced earlier in the day and put it up for a vote later this week.

By law, an impeachment motion must be put to a vote between 24 and 72 hours after the motion is reported to a plenary session.

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