SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean lawmaker’s motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his temporary imposition of martial law failed on Saturday after most members of his ruling party boycotted the vote.
Defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and fuel political turmoil in South Korea, as polls suggest a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law has drawn criticism from his ruling party, but he is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment openly for fear of losing the presidency to the liberals.
Impeaching Yoon requires support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties submitted a motion to remove him from office with 192 seats, but only three PPP MPs participated in the vote. This proposal was rejected without counting the votes because the votes did not reach 200.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very sad” and a moment of shame for the country’s democracy that was watched by the whole world.
“Failure to hold a proper vote on this issue means that we could not even use the democratic process to make a decision on a national issue,” he said.
The opposition parties may submit a new impeachment motion after the opening of the new session of Parliament next Wednesday.
There are concerns that Yoon will not be able to use his remaining 2 and a half years in office because his leadership has taken a heavy toll. Many experts say that other ruling party lawyers may end up joining the opposition’s efforts to criticize Yoon if public demands grow.
If Yoon is fired, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days.
Woo repeatedly urged members of the ruling party to return to the room to participate in the election, waiting several hours for them to come.
At one point, the leaders of the Democratic Party visited the hall below the main room where the PPP lawmakers were gathered, trying to persuade them to vote. After being denied entry, they went on a rampage and accused the Conservative leadership of preventing their MPs from voting freely.
Earlier on Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology regarding martial law, saying he would not avoid legal or political responsibility for the announcement and vowed not to make another attempt to enforce martial law. He said he will leave it to his party to plan a way to deal with the political turmoil in the country, “including issues affecting my time in power.”
“The declaration of this martial law was made because of my despair. But in its use, it caused anxiety and disturbance in the society. I’m very sorry for that and I’m really sorry to the people who must have been very shocked,” said Yoon.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to pass his agenda in the opposition-controlled parliament and faced low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his declaration of martial law on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” interfering in state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korean sympathizers and anti-state militias.”
The turmoil caused by Yoon’s wild and ill-considered blunders has paralyzed South Korean politics and raised fears among key diplomatic partners such as the US and Japan.
On Tuesday night, special forces surrounded the parliament building and military helicopters hovered over it, but the troops withdrew after the National Assembly voted unanimously to overturn the resolution, forcing Yoon to lift it before dawn on Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first in more than 40 years in South Korea. 18 ruling party lawmakers voted to reject Yoon’s martial law along with opposition lawmakers.
Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marriage law and ease Yoon’s exit from office.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “deeply disappointing” and that the only way forward was his immediate resignation or prosecution. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup d’état.”
Passage of the motion to impeach Yoon appeared possible on Friday when Yoon’s party chairman called for his removal from office on Friday, but the party remained officially opposed to his impeachment.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people lined the many streets leading to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with changed lyrics to call for Yoon’s dismissal. Protesters also gathered in front of the PPP headquarters near the Assembly, shouting angrily at lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon.
A small crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which appeared to be in the thousands, gathered on various streets in Seoul, denouncing the impeachment attempt as unconstitutional.
Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of price manipulation surrounding Yoon’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yoon’s party were seen leaving the hall after that vote, prompting angry shouts from opposition members.
On Friday, PPP chairman Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s declaration of martial law, said intelligence had found that during the short term of martial law Yoon had ordered the country’s defense chief to arrest and detain unspecified politicians for alleged “dissidents”. – world affairs.”
Hong Jang-won, the first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the security service arrest key politicians. The politicians targeted include Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Ministry of Defense said on Friday it had suspended three military commanders, including the head of the defense division, for their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Deputy Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. The opposition has accused Kim of recommending Yoon to apply martial law.
Kim resigned on Thursday, and prosecutors banned him from traveling overseas.
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