South Korea: Nearly 75 pct favor immediate resignation or impeachment of Yoon over martial law turmoil: poll

More than 7 out of 10 South Koreans agree that President Yoon Suk Yeol should step down immediately or be impeached over his martial law declaration, a survey showed Thursday, Yonhap reports. 

According to a survey by Realmeter on 507 people aged 18 or older conducted on Wednesday, 74.8 percent responded that Yoon should immediately leave office, either by stepping down or impeachment.

Of those surveyed, 16.2 percent supported an "orderly" resignation as proposed by the ruling party, while another 9 percent said they were unsure about the issue.

The ruling People Power Party earlier said it will minimize the fallout from Yoon's botched martial law, by pursuing the president's "early" and "orderly" departure. The party later proposed either Yoon resigns in February, followed by a snap presidential election in April, or resigns in March with a snap election in May.

In the survey, 66.2 percent of the respondents said they were experiencing stress or trauma as a result of the martial law turmoil.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

Yoon has been banned from leaving the country as police, prosecutors and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials investigate charges related to his Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.

He also faces another impeachment bid in parliament after he survived the first vote due to a lack of quorum last Saturday. Besides, President Yoon Suk Yeol was placed under a travel ban Monday pending an investigation into treason and other charges related to his short-lived imposition of martial law last week, with political turmoil deepening over Yoon's political future.