South Korean president avoids impeachment days after imposing martial law

South Korea’s president avoided impeachment after his ruling party boycotted the vote.

All but two members of the People Power Party (PPP) walked out of the National Assembly on Saturday ahead of a vote on Yoon Suk Yeol’s future in Seoul.

The Assembly speaker waited several hours to see if enough lawmakers could be convinced to return to vote, but at 9:20 p.m. local time he confirmed that voting had ended with only 195 votes counted.

A minimum of 200 is required for a president to be impeached.

However, opposition parties are expected to continue their efforts to remove Yoon from office.

The vote came hours after the president apologized for his attempt to impose martial law this week and bowed in a televised address to the nation.

Yoon said he would not seek to escape legal and political responsibility for his decision, which he said was born of desperation.

The speech was the embattled leader’s first public appearance since he rescinded the martial law order Wednesday morning, just six hours after its proclamation and after Parliament defied military and police cordons to vote against the decree. .

“I am truly sorry and would like to sincerely apologize to the people who were shocked,” Yoon said.

“I leave it to my party to take measures to stabilize the political situation in the future, including on the question of my mandate,” he said.

South Korea’s ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said after Yoon’s speech that the president was no longer able to hold public office and his resignation was now inevitable.

On Friday, Han said Yoon posed a danger to the country and should be removed from power, increasing pressure on Yoon to resign, although members of his People Power Party (PPP) later reaffirmed their formal opposition to his dismissal.

Yoon shocked the nation Tuesday night when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and defeat obstructionist political opponents.

In a televised speech, Yoon told the nation that martial law was necessary to defend the country against nuclear-armed North Korea and to protect its free constitutional order.

Some PPP members urged Yoon to resign before the vote, saying they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, who left office after months of protests by candlelight following an influence peddling scandal.

His fall triggered the implosion of the party and the victory of the liberals in the presidential and general elections.

In scenes reminiscent of those protests, thousands of candle-wielding demonstrators gathered outside Parliament on Friday evening to demand Yoon’s impeachment.

Chaotic scenes followed as helmeted troops entered the Parliament building through broken windows and military helicopters flew overhead. Parliamentary aides sprayed fire extinguishers to repel the soldiers, and protesters clashed with police outside.

Protests continued Saturday as voting took place.

The United States, which has a major military base in South Korea, said it was monitoring the situation “with grave concern.”

Yoon, whose popularity has plummeted in recent months, has struggled to advance his agenda in the face of an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.

His conservative People Power Party was in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill. Yoon also rejected calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and senior party officials.

Prosecutors, police and the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau have all launched investigations into Yoon and senior officials involved in the martial law decree, seeking to pursue charges of insurrection and abuse of power. power, among other things.

Those responsible risk being charged with insurrection, abuse of authority and obstructing others in the exercise of their rights. If convicted, the crime of leading an insurrection is punishable by death or life imprisonment, with or without prison labor.