Seoul, Dec 8 (IANS): Interior Minister Lee Sang-min stepped down from his post on Sunday amid political turmoil sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law declaration last week.

The ministry said Yoon accepted Lee's resignation shortly after he offered to resign.

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, Yonhap news agency reported.

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.

But Yoon's acceptance of the resignation may spark further criticism as it is seen as an act of exercising presidential power, contrary to the earlier announcement by ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon that Yoon will no longer engage in the running of state affairs until his 'early and orderly' exit.

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.