Seoul, Dec 8 (IANS): South Korean Interior Minister Lee Sang-min offered to quit on Sunday amid political turmoil sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law declaration last week.

Lee, one of Yoon's closest aides, announced his resignation in a statement a day after the main opposition party proposed an impeachment motion against Lee, with the vote scheduled for Tuesday, reports Yonhap news agency.

In a parliamentary committee session following the lifting of martial law, Lee appeared to defend Yoon, saying the president carried out martial law while abiding by the constitutional process and law.

In February last year, Lee was suspended from his job after the main opposition-controlled National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against him for the crowd crush in the 2022 Halloween celebrations in Seoul's Itaewon district, which killed 159 people.

In July last year, the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the motion, immediately reinstating him as minister.