South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Saturday that he was "sincerely sorry" for public concern after declaring martial law early this week, vowing not to do it again.
"I am genuinely sorry and apologize to the people who must have been very shocked," Yoon said in a televised public address, hours before a parliamentary vote on an impeachment motion against him, Yonhap news agency reported.
Yoon made the remark in his first public appearance after he declared martial law on Tuesday night and rescinded it six hours later after the National Assembly voted against it.
He said he had imposed martial law because of "desperation" as President but acknowledged that the rash decision caused "concerns and inconvenience" to the people.
"I will not avoid legal and political responsibility related to this martial law declaration," he said, vowing to leave all decisions, including his term, to his People Power Party in order to stabilise the nation.
Yoon was elected in May 2022 to a single, five-year term.
South Korean lawmakers are to vote later Saturday on impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal.
It was not immediately clear whether the motion submitted by opposition lawmakers would get the two-thirds majority required for Yoon to be impeached.
But it sounded more probable after the chief of Yoon's party on Friday demanded his impeachment, terming him 'unfit to be an incumbent of the office he holds and capable of making even more extreme actions with renewed attempts at imposing Martial Law.
President under mounting pressure to quit as he shocks the nation by imposing martial law to uproot "anti-state forces," accusing the opposition of paralyzing the government functions with impeachment motions and the proposed budget cut.
The opposition bloc, which collectively commands 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, is expected to vote on his impeachment motion at around 5 p.m. The motion needs at least eight votes from the ruling party, which has 108 seats.
After the two-minute address, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, repeated his call for Yoon's immediate resignation or impeachment.
PPP leader Han Dong-hoon was equally critical of Yoon, saying his early resignation is "unavoidable".
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