By Cynthia Kim, Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – A vote to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law was in limbo on Saturday as members of his party walked out and the opposition urged them to return and vote.
As lawmakers debated the motion, tabled by the main opposition Democratic Party, only one member of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) remained in his seat while several others returned during the vote, raising doubts about whether the measure would have enough votes to pass.
The lull was a strange counterpoint to the shouting and cursing in parliament that preceded the vote, held four days after Yoon plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key US military ally into its biggest political crisis in decades, threatening to shatter South Korea’s reputation as a democratic success story. .
The opposition needs at least eight PPP votes to achieve the required two-thirds majority. As PPP lawmakers left after voting on a separate motion to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the first lady, some people shouted and cursed at them.
When the debate on the impeachment motion began, the opposition MPs recited the names of the PPP members who had left.
After voting began, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik urged PPP members to return as opposition MPs settled down. It is not clear how long they plan to wait, but the parliamentary secretary said they have until 00:48 on Sunday (1548 GMT Saturday) to complete the vote.
One of the returning PPP members told reporters that he voted against the impeachment motion because he disagreed with the bill, but still thought Yoon was not qualified to be president.
Opposition leaders said they would reconsider the impeachment bid on Wednesday if it failed the first time.
In the morning, Yoon apologized to the nation for his attempt to impose martial law but did not resign, defying fierce pressure to step down even from some members of his ruling party.
Yoon said he would not seek to avoid legal and political responsibility for his decision to declare a state of emergency for the first time in South Korea in 44 years. He said the decision came out of desperation.
YOON ‘HE’S SO SORRY’
Saturday’s televised speech was the embattled leader’s first public appearance since he lifted the emergency order six hours after declaring it, when parliament defied military and police cordons to vote unanimously against his decree.
“I leave it to my party to take steps to stabilize the political situation in the future, including the issue of my mandate,” Yoon said in an address to the nation, promising that there would be no second attempt to impose a state of emergency.
Standing in front of the South Korean flag, Yoon bowed after finishing his brief remarks, staring seriously into the camera for a moment.
Han Dong-hoon, head of Yoon’s ruling party, said after the address that the president was no longer in a position to carry out his public duties and that his resignation was now inevitable.
Han said on Friday that Yoon was a danger to the country and should be removed from power, increasing pressure on Yoon to step down even though PPP members later reaffirmed their official opposition to his impeachment.
If Yoon leaves office before his unique five-year term expires in May 2027, the constitution requires a presidential election to be held within 60 days of his departure.
Martial law has been declared more than a dozen times since South Korea was established as a republic in 1948, most recently in 1980.
EMERGENCY LAW HAS HIT
Yoon shocked the nation late Tuesday when he gave the military broad emergency powers to fight unspecified threats from “North Korean communist forces” and “root out shameless pro-Northern anti-state forces.”
He went on to accuse the National Assembly of launching an unprecedented number of impeachment attempts against members of his administration, effectively paralyzing key operations, and of managing the budget in a way that undermines the government’s core functions, including public safety.
Yoon is followed by personal scandals and disagreements, intransigent opposition and divisions within his own party. Once considered a tough political survivor, he became increasingly isolated.
The declaration of emergency sent shockwaves around the world and drew rare criticism from senior US officials who had previously praised Yoon as a champion of democracy in Asia. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has dropped plans to travel to South Korea, two US officials told Reuters on Thursday.
Some PPP members called on Yoon to resign ahead of Saturday’s vote, saying they did not want a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, who left office after months of candlelight protests over an influence-peddling scandal. Her fall caused the collapse 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 protesters gathered outside parliament on Friday and Saturday night, demanding Yoon’s impeachment.
Protester Choi Yong-Ho, 60, said he was furious at the prospect that the impeachment bill might fail, but vowed to keep coming to future protests.
“We need to make our voices heard,” he said.
If Yoon is impeached, a trial before the Constitutional Court will follow. The court can confirm a motion for impeachment by a vote of six out of nine justices. The court currently has only six judges, and it is unclear whether it would take on the case without at least seven.
In 2017, it took the court three months to remove then-President Park from office.
Prosecutors, police and the Office of Corruption Investigation for Senior Officials have launched investigations against Yoon and senior officials involved in the emergency decree, seeking charges of sedition and abuse of power, among other charges.
Officials face possible charges of sedition, abuse of power and obstructing other persons in exercising their rights. If convicted, the crime of sedition is punishable by death or life imprisonment, with or without prison labor.
