President Yoon Suk Yeol escapes impeachment

Impeachment motion scrapped without ballot counting as ruling party boycotts vote

By Kwak Yeon-soo

President Yoon Suk Yeol escaped impeachment on Saturday, as the National Assembly failed to pass the motion to oust him over his short-lived martial law, which sent shockwaves through Korea and triggered massive street protests.

The impeachment motion failed as most ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers boycotted the vote by walking out the Assembly chamber, preventing it from reaching the quorum, 200 votes. Impeaching a seating president requires support from a two-thirds majority of the 300-member parliament to pass.

With 192 of the 300 Assembly seats held by the opposition bloc, at least eight PPP lawmakers’ votes were needed to impeach Yoon.

If the number of lawmakers who cast ballots doesn’t reach 200, the motion is scrapped without the ballot counting as it falls short of quorum.

Ahead of the plenary session, the PPP said it would oppose the impeachment.

While all 108 PPP lawmakers initially entered the main chamber to vote against a separate bill about special counsel investigation into allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee, 107 of them, except Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, left the chamber before the impeachment motion was put to a vote.

Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik delayed the closure of the voting and called on PPP lawmakers to return to the chamber and cast their ballots.

“The whole world is watching. Regardless of political party, we must protect the democracy and the constitutional order of the Republic of Korea. I wholeheartedly urge the PPP lawmakers to cast their votes,” Woo said.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers recited the names of PPP members who had left, urging them to return.

Minutes later, Reps. Kim Yea-ji and Kim Sang-wook of the PPP returned to the chamber to cast their votes.

Some PPP lawmakers, who initially expressed their support for Yoon’s impeachment despite the party’s official stance to oppose it, reversed their decisions following Yoon’s public apology earlier in the day.

In a televised address on Saturday morning, Yoon apologized for causing chaos in the country and said he would entrust every state affair, including his term in office, to the PPP. He also said there will not be another martial law.

After Yoon's address, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said, “An early resignation of Yoon is unavoidable as the president is no longer in a position to execute his duties effectively.”

However, he remained steadfast in opposition to Yoon’s impeachment, maintaining the party line.

The DPK condemned the PPP for not participating in the voting and vowed to submit the impeachment motion again.

“PPP is not a democratic party. The PPP is a criminal traitor that actively participated in the act of rebellion. We will push for the impeachment vote again and pass the impeachment by the end of this year. Han should bear historical responsibility,” DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung said.

The main opposition said it will table the impeachment motion every week until it’s passed.

“We will immediately hold a special session on Dec. 11, a day after the last day of the parliamentary regular session, and push for the impeachment vote again on Dec. 14,” the DPK said.

The PPP said it will conduct a thorough investigation to unearth the truth about the martial law and resolve the grave confusion as soon as possible.

"Considering the chaos in state affairs, the impeachment vote is not appropriate. The impeachment tragedy should not be repeated," Rep. Shin Dong-wook, spokesperson of the PPP said.

The party said its lawmakers' inattendance to the vote was their expression of opposition, adding it would devise measures to settle the chaos and stabilize state affairs.

It is said the PPP leader and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will discuss the issues in the coming days. Speaking to reporters after the scrapped impeachment vote, the PPP leader said the party will work toward Yoon's "orderly resignation." However, he did not elaborate on what "orderly resignation" entails or how much the president would be excluded from his duties

Meanwhile, PPP floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho offered to resign after the vote to take responsibility for the martial law chaos that led to the third presidential impeachment vote in Korea’s constitutional history.

The failed vote is expected to bring more rage from the public that has called for Yoon's impeachment. Hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in front of the Assembly since 3 p.m. Saturday to call for the ouster and waited for the vote result, only to hear that the PPP boycotted the vote to annul it.

In a recent poll released by Gallup Korea on Friday, Yoon’s approval rating plunged to 13 percent following the martial law fiasco, the lowest since he took office in May 2022. An opinion survey released Thursday showed that about 74 percent of respondents supported Yoon’s impeachment.

Meanwhile, the Assembly also rejected a bill on a special counsel investigation into the first lady. The bill, which was put to a revote after Yoon vetoed it last month, failed to pass by just two votes, with 198 votes for and 102 against. It meant six PPP lawmakers probably approved the investigation.