South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol claimed Thursday that North Korean hacking attacks against election authorities partly motivated his controversial declaration of martial law, defending his actions that have plunged the country into political chaos and triggered high-level investigations into whether he committed treason.

In a televised address, Yoon also doubled down on accusations that the opposition party has aligned with Pyongyang and claimed its push for his impeachment is an attempt to protect the party leader from prosecution.