S. Korean defense chief offers resignation

SEOUL -- South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun made an apology to citizens and said he has submitted resignation to President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

The resignation came shortly after the main opposition Democratic Party proposed an impeachment motion against the defense chief over emergency martial law turmoil.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and leaders of the ruling People Power Party have gathered at the presidential office, likely for a meeting with the South Korean president following the opposition parties' impeachment bill, Yonhap said in an earlier dispatch citing sources.

South Korea's opposition parties submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon over the extended political turmoil caused by a presidential declaration of a short-lived emergency martial law issued Tuesday night. Yoon lifted it early Wednesday after the National Assembly voted against the law.

Earlier on Wednesday, South Korea's cabinet ministers expressed their intentions to resign en masse, the local Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.

Prime Minister Han has expressed his willingness to "serve the public until the final moment", Yonhap said.