NPR – Motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon fails after members of his party boycott vote.
A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote.
The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.
Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals.
Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members.
The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote.
The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy that has been closely watched by the world.
“The failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means we were not even able to exercise the democratic procedure of deciding on a critical national issue,” he said.
Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday.
Note: Nearly 150,000 people at protest demanding S. Korean president step down: Yonhap
There are worries that Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 ½ years in office because his leadership took a huge hit. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further.
If Yoon is impeached, 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 ruling party members to return to the chamber to participate in the vote, waiting several hours for them to come.
At one point, Democratic Party leaders visited a hall on the floor below the main chamber where PPP lawmakers were gathered, attempting to persuade them to vote. After being blocked from entering, they angrily accused the conservatives’ leadership of preventing its lawmakers from voting freely.
Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law.
He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.”
