韓国野党、尹大統領に辞任要求 同盟諸国も「非常戒厳」に衝撃

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国で４日、前日に宣布した「非常戒厳」を解除した尹錫悦（ユン・ソンニョル）大統領の辞任を要求する声が高まっている。尹氏は、「反国家勢力を一挙に撲滅」するためと称して「非常戒厳」を宣布し、その後、国会で解除を要求する決議案が可決されたのを受けて数時間後に解除した。（写真は、韓国ソウルで、尹錫悦大統領の辞任を求める人々）
　およそ４０年ぶりに非常戒厳が宣言された今回の事態は、現代韓国の民主主義史上最大の混乱を招き、同盟諸国にも衝撃を与えている。
　国会の過半数を握る最大野党「共に民主党」は、尹氏の即時辞任を要求。内乱罪で告発し、弾劾手続きを進め、国防相らも対象にすると表明している。
　尹氏を擁する与党・国民の力の代表も、「悲劇的」な試みだとし、関係者の責任追及を求めた。
　尹氏の側近らは４日、非常戒厳の宣布を受けて一斉に辞意を表明している。
　主要同盟国の米国は、非常戒厳を宣布する予定について尹氏側から事前に連絡を受けていなかったとしている。その上でアントニー・ブリンケン国務長官は、「尹大統領が非常戒厳令を解除すると発表したことを歓迎する」と述べた。
　日本政府は「特段の関心を持って、事態を注視する」と表明した。
　朝鮮半島問題を研究するノルウェー・オスロ大学のウラジミール・ティホノフ教授はＡＦＰに対し、尹氏による非常戒厳の宣布は「歴史を巻き戻そうとする試み」だと指摘。
　「尹氏はもはや、韓国の市民社会から正当な大統領として認識されないだろう」との見方を示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/12/04-20:58）

Thousands of protesters marched on parliament in South Korea's capital Wednesday, joining a push by the country's opposition to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his extraordinary but short-lived imposition of martial law.
Yoon's shock bid to suspend civilian rule for the first time in over four decades -- before being overturned by lawmakers in a night of drama -- plunged South Korea into deep turmoil and alarmed its close allies.
The future of Yoon, a conservative politician and former star public prosecutor who was elected president in 2022, is now highly uncertain.
Thousands of protesters waving placards demanding he resign on Wednesday evening left Seoul's central square to march on the country's parliament, where another rally organised by the main opposition is taking place.
And South Korea's opposition parties -- whose lawmakers jumped fences and tussled with security forces to vote down the martial law -- filed a motion to impeach Yoon.
They were yet to decide when to put it to a vote, but it could come as soon as Friday.
The opposition holds a large majority in the 300-member parliament and needs only a handful of defections from the president's party to secure the two-thirds majority needed to pass the motion.
The DP has also filed charges of insurrection against the president, some of his ministers and top military and police officials -- which can carry a penalty of life imprisonment or even death.
The nation's largest umbrella labour union called an indefinite general strike until Yoon resigns.
Even the leader of Yoon's own ruling party described the attempt as tragic while calling for those involved to be held accountable.
Seoul's stock exchange closed down more than one percent Wednesday as markets were roiled by the turmoil.
- Defiance -
In his late-night television announcement, Yoon declared martial law, citing the threat of North Korea and anti-state forces.
More than 280 troops, some flown in by helicopters, arrived at parliament to lock down the site.
But 190 lawmakers defied rifle-carrying soldiers to force their way into parliament to vote against the move.
This left Yoon with no choice but to retract his decision and call off the military in another television address six hours later.
Under the constitution, martial law must be lifted when a majority in parliament demands it.
Senior aides working for Yoon offered Wednesday to resign en masse over the martial law declaration.
Yoon's defence minister also offered to step down, saying he took full responsibility for the confusion and concern around the martial law declaration.
By the evening, Yoon had yet to reappear publicly.
- 'Impeachment' -
The U-turn prompted jubilation among flag-waving protesters outside parliament who had braved freezing temperatures to keep vigil through the night in defiance of Yoon's martial law order.
Lim Myeong-pan, 55, told AFP that Yoon now has to go.
Yoon's act of imposing it in the first place without legitimate cause is a serious crime in itself, Lim told AFP.
He has paved his own path to impeachment with this.
And as nightfell in Seoul, protesters gathered again, ramping up their calls for Yoon to go.
I was so incensed I couldn't sleep a wink last night, I came out to make sure we push out Yoon once and for all, 50-year-old Kim Min-ho told AFP at a demonstration at the assembly Wednesday.
- 'Anti-state' elements -
Yoon had said that his imposition of martial law was to safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people's freedom and happiness..
Yoon did not elaborate on the North's threats, but the South remains technically at war with nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
The president labelled the main opposition Democratic Party anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime.
In recent weeks Yoon and his People Power Party have been bitterly at odds with the opposition over next year's budget.
His approval rating dropped to 19 percent in the latest Gallup poll last week, with voters angry at the state of the economy as well as controversies involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
Yoon's surprising action took allies by surprise, with the United States, which has nearly 30,000 troops in the country to protect it from the nuclear-armed North, saying it had no prior notice and voicing relief at his reversal.
This is a surprising last-ditch move by Yoon to grab political power, Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.
This move will only fasten the demise of his political career as it is likely to lead to his impeachment.