South Korean President Apologizes, Saying He'll Take Responsibility For Attempt At Martial Law

South Korea’s president apologized Saturday for public anxiety caused by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law earlier this week.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled president apologized Saturday for public anxiety caused by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on impeaching him.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a brief televised address Saturday morning he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promised not to make another attempt to impose it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.”

“The declaration of his martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon, a conservative, has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”

A National Assembly vote on an opposition-led motion to impeach Yoon is set for Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the motion would get the two-thirds needed to pass. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion control 192 of the legislature’s 300 seats, meaning they need at least eight additional votes from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party.