Impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said the country was facing a national crisis and repeatedly defended his martial law decree in his final hearing statement of his impeachment trial.
Mr Yoon gave a 67-minute statement at the Constitutional Court as it wrapped up arguments in his impeachment trial to determine whether to remove him from office or reinstate his presidential powers.
The president began his speech by offering an apology to the people of the country for not being able to serve and causing "confusion and inconvenience" due to his martial law bid.
"I want to first say that I am sorry and thankful to the people," he said. "While feeling thankful, the reality of not being able to do my work in the time given to me by the people made me sorry and caused my heart to ache."
Mr Yoon said if he was allowed to serve, he will make constitutional amendments to change the current presidential system and push for political reforms.
"I will gather the will of the people and swiftly push for a constitutional amendment, doing my best to produce a constitution and political structure that fit the changes in our society," he said.
"If a constitutional amendment and political reform are pursued correctly, I believe the separated and divided people will unite in the process," he added.
He also suggested stepping down before his single five-year term ends in 2027 to promote "political reform".
South Korea's constitution restricts presidents to a single five-year term, but Mr Yoon's remark indicated he may be open to changing the limit to two four-year terms and applying the new rule to himself, according to Yonhap.
Mr Yoon declared martial law on 3 December, the country’s first in 40 years. It ended after just six hours when the National Assembly voted to withdraw it, despite attempts by armed soldiers to prevent lawmakers from assembling.
The martial law plunged the country into political turmoil, rattled its financial markets, and hurt its international image.
He was then impeached by the National Assembly. Mr Yoon subsequently became the first sitting South Korean president to be indicted on charges of leading an insurrection.
He has been separately arrested and indicted on rebellion charges in connection with his decree. If convicted, he would face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Mr Yoon reiterated on Tuesday that he had no intentions of disrupting assembly work and that deploying troops and police was meant to maintain order.
But some commanders of military units sent to the assembly have testified that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent them from overturning his decree.
He said the claims that he ordered the arrest or removal of politicians were “absurd.
Main liberal opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rai said that Mr Yoon must be dismissed as he undermined the constitution by trying to seal the assembly and suppress its authority with armed troops.
"Yoon Suk Yeol is still refusing to have self-reflection and soul-searching and repeating sophistry and crafty remarks that say his emergency martial law was a high-level act of governance," Mr Jung said. "We should dismiss him as soon as possible to get the Republic of Korea back on track."
Mr Yoon however contended that “we are at a crisis of national existence”.
“What is our reality? Can we assert that this is not a national emergency?" he asked.
The court will likely announce their verdict in March.
