South Korean lawmakers vote today on impeachment President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed request martial law, a second parliamentary showdown that appeared on the razor’s edge. A week after an initial attempt to oust Yoon failed over the martial law debacle, the National Assembly will vote around 4 p.m (0700 GMT) whether to impeach him for “insurrectionary acts that undermine the constitutional order.”
Yoon vowed to fight “until the last minute” and reiterated that the opposition is in cahoots with the country’s communist enemies. Thousands of South Koreans took to the streets of Seoul to call for Yoon’s resignation and imprisonment after his brief declaration of martial law sent soldiers and helicopters into parliament last week.
And it is expected that massive demonstrations in support of impeachment they will be held near parliament around midday. Organizers promised to distribute food and banners to protesters to lift their spirits in the freezing December temperatures. And therea K-pop singer Yuri della band Girl’s Generationn — whose song “Into the New World” became a protest anthem — said he pre-paid for food for fans who attended the rally.
Two hundred votes are needed to pass the impeachment, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides.
Starting Friday, seven ruling party lawmakers had pledged to support impeachment, leaving the vote pending. Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung implored PPP lawmakers to side with the “people crying in the freezing streets.”
Two PPP lawmakers supported the motion in last week’s vote. Opposition lawmaker Kim Min-seok said Friday he was “99 percent” sure the impeachment motion would pass. If it were to be approved, Yoon would be suspended from office while the Constitutional Court of South Korea deliberates. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over as acting president. The court would then have 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
If he supports his removal, Yoon would become the second president in South Korea’s history to be successfully impeached. But there is also a precedent for the court blocking impeachment: in 2004, then-President Roh Moo-hyun was removed from parliament for alleged violations of electoral law and incompetence, but the Constitutional Court later reinstated him.
The leaders of South Korea’s two main political parties made a last-minute appeal Saturday to support the motion that will be voted on today to remove President Yoon Suk-yeol for declaring martial law last week.