7 out of 10 South Koreans in favor of President Yoon's impeachment: poll

SEOUL - More than seven out of 10 South Koreans were in favor of the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol over his declaration of an emergency martial law, a poll showed Thursday.

According to the local pollster Realmeter survey, 73.6 percent of respondents approved of the impeachment of the conservative president, while 24.0 percent were against it.

The result was based on a survey of 504 voters conducted Wednesday. It had plus and minus 4.4 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-percent confidence level.

Even in North Gyeongsang province and the city of Daegu, regarded as a traditional home turf for the conservative bloc, 66.2 percent agreed on the impeachment.

Of the respondents who identified themselves as liberal voters, 94.6 percent were in favor of the impeachment, while 50.4 percent of conservative voters consented to the removal of Yoon from office.

Those who termed Yoon's martial law declaration as treason reached 69.5 percent, while 24.9 percent disagreed with it.

In North Gyeongsang province and Daegu, 70.5 percent said the martial law declaration was an offense of seeking to topple the country, while 45.2 percent of conservative voters considered it a rebellion.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law Tuesday night before repealing it early Wednesday as the parliament voted against it.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party and five other minor parties submitted a motion to impeach Yoon on Wednesday.