PPP chair Han Dong-hoon said his party would seek Yoon’s “orderly” early exit but didn’t say when he could resign.
Protests against Yoon are swelling
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people packed several blocks of roads leading to the national assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing. Protesters also gathered in front of the PPP’s headquarters near the assembly, shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied elsewhere in Seoul, calling the impeachment attempt unconstitutional.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last Tuesday, when he declared emergency martial law.Credit: Getty Images
Impeaching Yoon required support from 200 of the national assembly’s 300 members. The Democratic Party and five other smaller opposition parties, which filed the motion, have a combined 192 seats. But only three PPP lawmakers 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.
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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.
The president apologises for turmoil
Earlier on Saturday, Yoon apologised 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 it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office”.
“The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologise to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving he and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces”.
Lee Jae-myung (second from right), the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, and lawmakers after the vote to impeach South Korea’s president failed.Credit: Getty Images
The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. The turmoil has paralysed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners such as the US and Japan.
“Yoon’s credibility overseas has been undermined by declaring martial law, so he won’t be able to exercise leadership in his foreign policies, especially when his days are numbered,” Kim, the analyst, said.
“Its government bureaucracy will need to continue business as usual for existing alliance and foreign policy initiatives as best it can because there is a lot of important work to do globally.”
A protest against Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Saturday. Most South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.Credit: Bloomberg
On Tuesday night, special forces troops encircled the parliament building and army helicopters hovered over it, but the military withdrew after the national assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak on Wednesday.
Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. The PPP later opposed Yoon’s impeachment motion.
AP
