Opposition Grows to South Korea’s President as He Faces Impeachment

The leader of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s own party has backed impeachment, on which the National Assembly is set to vote on Saturday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea grew increasingly isolated on Friday, after the head of his ruling party came out in support of impeaching the president, and the country’s military said it would not follow any orders to reimpose martial law.

In a surprise about-face, the leader of the governing People Power Party, or P.P.P., called Mr. Yoon unfit to lead South Korea after his short-lived martial law decree earlier this week catapulted the democracy into turmoil.

“I think that President Yoon Suk Yeol should be suspended from office as soon as possible,” Han Dong-hoon said during an emergency party leadership meeting.

It was not clear how many members of the party shared Mr. Han’s view. But his comments increased the likelihood that the impeachment bill against Mr. Yoon would gain enough support to pass through the National Assembly.

Mr. Han joined opposition lawmakers in warning that if Mr. Yoon stays in office, he might try to impose martial law again in a desperate attempt to hold onto power. In a powerful rebuttal to Mr. Yoon, the defense ministry said that even if he did, the military would not follow. And the country’s special forces command, which joined Mr. Yoon’s ill-fated martial law, said it would not join another.