IN A final statement at his impeachment trial on Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol defended his martial law decree that plunged the country into chaos as a bid to inform the public of the danger of the opposition-controlled parliament.

The court is expected to rule by mid-March on whether to remove the right-wing president from office.

The liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly impeached Mr Yoon after his short-lived December 3 martial law decree caused political turmoil. 

He has been separately arrested and charged with rebellion over the decree which could lead to the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Mr Yoon has denied any wrongdoing and blamed the main liberal opposition Democratic Party for the crisis.

He said at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday that he declared martial law out “of desperation as I could no longer neglect a do-or-die crisis facing this country. 

“I tried to inform the people of these anti-state acts of wickedness by the mammoth opposition party and appealed to the people to stop it with intense surveillance and criticism.”

During the hearing, Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung Rai said the president was still claiming his martial law declaration “was a high-level act of governance. We should dismiss him as soon as possible.”