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South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol quits party before snap polls, urges support for Kim Moon-soo
The impeached ex-president said he was leaving the conservative party to ‘fulfil my responsibility to protect the free Republic of Korea’
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South Korea’s impeached ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol said on Saturday he was leaving his conservative party ahead of snap elections triggered by his exit last month over a disastrous bid to impose martial law.
The country goes to the polls on June 3 to choose a successor to Yoon, whose removal from office has thrown the country and his People Power Party (PPP) into turmoil.
The party has been under pressure to expel Yoon, who is standing trial on criminal charges of insurrection, as the main opposition Democratic Party’s candidate, Lee Jae-myung, widens his lead in polls.
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“I am leaving the People Power Party today,” Yoon wrote on Facebook, asking people to support the PPP’s official candidate, Kim Moon-soo, who served as the ex-president’s labour minister.
The decision was to “fulfil my responsibility to protect the free Republic of Korea”, he said.
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Yoon’s martial law declaration – which he claimed was necessary to break legislative gridlock and “root out” pro-North Korean “anti-state” forces – garnered support from extreme religious figures and right-wing YouTubers.
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