Conservative groups of professors and former diplomats separately issued statements on Saturday to oppose the impeachment of the embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol, who came under fire after declaring martial law this week.

A right-leaning group of former diplomats, comprising some 230 members, claimed the impeachment motion was illegitimate, having been written without much consideration in only half a day.

“Impeachment is not a political decision but a constitutional mechanism that requires a stringent legal judgment,” the group said in the statement. “Impeachment of a president needs to fulfill the required criteria and procedures stipulated in the Constitution.”

The same group previously expressed support for the resignation of former President Moon Jae-in in 2019.

The Professors' Solidarity for Freedom & Justice, another conservative group of some 6,300 university professors across the country, also issued a statement, saying the current situation is a result of a political offensive by the opposition party, designed to oust the president.

"The six hours of martial law was a duty executed by the president, who is the supreme guardian of the Constitution," the group said in the statement.

The group said the opposition parties, the ruling party leader and other established media are colluding to to press the president into voluntary resignation and working together for the suspension of his duty.

This, the group called, is "clearly criminal acts of treason."