South Korea crisis live: ruling party lawmakers leave chamber ahead of impeachment vote | South Korea
Members of ruling party leave chamber after first vote
As the plenary session got under way in South Korea’s national assembly, some members of the ruling People Power Party walked out of chamber after voting on the special counsel appointment in the first lady’s case.
It appears they are boycotting the upcoming impeachment vote, BBC News reports. Some opposition MPs shouted at the ruling party lawmakers: “Traitors, go back in”.
However, some have remained in their seats. The speaker has also asked an MP to stop streaming the session on YouTube.
Key events
Justin McCurry
In the now increasingly unlikely event that the impeachment vote is passed today, Yoon Suk Yeol would be immediately suspended and replaced as president by the prime minister, Han Duck-soo.
It would then be left to the Constitutional court to decide whether to uphold the national assembly’s vote. At least six of the court’s nine justices would have to approve impeachment for it to succeed.
Since the court currently has three vacancies after recent retirements, the main opposition Democratic party is expected to quickly exercise its right to recommend two of the three new justices.
If the court eventually approves impeachment, South Koreans would have to elect a new president within 60 days of its ruling.
The more likely scenario, given the chaotic scenes in the national assembly on Saturday, is that opposition parties will regroup and attempt to introduce a second impeachment vote soon, possibly as early as Wednesday.
That means Yoon would survive – for now. But he could come under pressure from members of his People Power party to seize the initiative from the opposition and resign – a move that would spare him the indignity of being forced out of office and, perhaps, contain the damage to his party’s reputation.
Lawmakers must vote for sake of the future of the Republic of Korea, speaker says
Justin McCurry
Woo Won-shik, the speaker of South Korea’s national assembly, is issuing a strong reprimand to People Power party lawmakers who left the chamber just before the vote to impeach the president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
“The eyes of the South Korean people are on us, and people around the world are watching us too,” said Woo, a member of the opposition Democratic party.
“I am not telling you to vote for or against impeachment, but I implore you to come back and vote, for the sake of the future of the Republic of Korea.”
One of the first PPP lawmakers to publicly say he would support the motion has been speaking to BBC Korean about why he changed his mind.
But today, he joined his ruling party colleagues in walking out of the parliament chamber ahead of the vote.
“I was determined to agree to the impeachment bill until yesterday, because there was no word from the president’s office nor public apology for martial law or any follow-up measures,” Yoon told BBC Korean. “However, I heard that he was announcing an apology to the public today,”
“Most members of the National Assembly acknowledge that the president’s declaration of martial law was an incorrect and wrong action,” he added. “However, there is concern that if impeachment is used as a means to address the president’s wrongdoings, it will lead to an early presidential election.”
Protesters take part in a demonstration against the president outside the National Assembly on 7 December 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Speaker Woo Won-shik, a Democratic party lawmaker, has asked the ruling PPP members who walked out earlier to return to vote on the bill.
“The Republic of Korea is a democracy that’s made of people’s blood and tears,” he said.
“Are you not afraid of being judged by history, by the people, and by the world? Participate in the voting, that’s how you protect our democracy.”
One more ruling party MP returns as impeachment vote begins
Kim Ye-ji of the PPP has returned to the chamber to vote on the impeachment motion, BBC News reports.
However, with voting on the impeachment now under way, there are still not enough MPs present for it to pass.
Members of South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol’s party left parliament ahead of a planned impeachment vote on Saturday over his attempt to impose martial law, Reuters reported.
As lawmakers debated the motion, filed by the main opposition Democratic Party, only a single member of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) remained in his seat, casting doubts over whether the measure would reach the two-thirds threshold to pass.
Lawmakers arrive for the plenary session of the impeachment vote of President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly on 7 December 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Getty Images
The opposition needs at least eight votes from the PPP. As PPP lawmakers departed after casting votes on a separate motion to appoint a special prosecutor in investigate the first lady, some people shouted and cursed them.
Opposition leaders have said if the impeachment motion fails they plan to revisit it again on Wednesday.
With only one member of the ruling party remaining in the chamber, the speaker has spoken out in criticism.
“This is ignoring the will of the people,” he said. “This is disregard of the people, disregard of the national assembly. As representatives, you must not do this.”
The one remaining PPP lawmaker is Ahn Cheol-soo, who has publicly stated he will vote to impeach Yoon.
The impeachment vote may still proceed but the numbers are literally no longer there for it to reach the required 200 votes to pass.
South Korean parliament's special counsel probe bill on first lady fails
The special counsel bill on the first lady has not passed and appears to have failed by just two votes.
It had 198 votes in favour but needed 200 to pass, BBC News reports.
The bill had addressed her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, as well as alleged interference in election nominations through a power broker.
Members of ruling party leave chamber after first vote
As the plenary session got under way in South Korea’s national assembly, some members of the ruling People Power Party walked out of chamber after voting on the special counsel appointment in the first lady’s case.
It appears they are boycotting the upcoming impeachment vote, BBC News reports. Some opposition MPs shouted at the ruling party lawmakers: “Traitors, go back in”.
However, some have remained in their seats. The speaker has also asked an MP to stop streaming the session on YouTube.
Protesters hold placards as they take part in a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law, which was reversed hours later, in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, 7 December 2024. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Raphael Rashid
The Korean Bar Association backed impeachment on Saturday morning, stating that Yoon’s martial law declaration failed to meet the requirements of the constitution and that he was no longer fit to serve as president.
The influential group, which has 30,000 members, said it would support efforts to investigate Yoon for insurrection charges regardless of the impeachment vote outcome.
Ruling party to vote down impeachment motion against Yoon, Yonhap reports
Yoon’s ruling People Power party (PPP) will vote down the impeachment motion against him, the national news wire Yonhap reports.
The opposition needs eight lawmakers from the PPP to vote in favour of the impeachment to reach the 200 of 300 lawmakers required to impeach the president.
We’ll bring you more details when we have them.
Here are a few pics from the seen of the protests outside parliament:
Members of civil society groups from all around the country have descended on Seoul to take part in a demonstration outside parliament ahead of the impeachment vote, the national news wire Yonhap reports.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the largest umbrella labour unions in the country, was also among the thousands of people protesting outside parliament on Saturday ahead of the impeachment vote, according to news wire Yonhap.
“An apology cannot cover up treason,” it said in a statement and called for the “immediate impeachment and arrest” of Yoon.
Yonhap also reported that a man in his 50s was detained by police after trying to set himself on fire in protest of Yoon’s martial law declaration, according to officials.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the political crisis in South Korea, where lawmakers are preparing to vote on a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his failed attempt to impose martial law earlier this week.
Yoon addressed the nation for the first time since rescinding the order on Wednesday, just six hours after imposing it, apologising for his actions and promising not to attempt it a second time.
He said he would accept the legal and political consequences and bowed to the nation during the address, however he did not resign and it remains unclear whether the opposition has enough votes to impeach him.
That would require support from 200 of the National Assembly’s 300 members but the opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion only have 192 seats combined meaning they need at least eight votes from Yoon’s ruling People Power party (PPP).
PPP leader Han Dong-hun has called the president a danger to the country. However, he is not a lawmaker and cannot vote, and the PPP decided to oppose impeachment at a lawmakers’ meeting on Thursday.
Thousands of people rallied in Yeouido, where the national assembly is located ahead of the vote, calling for Yoon to go, the national news wire Yonhap reported.
Yoon’s attempt on Tuesday to impose South Korea’s first state of martial law in over four decades plunged the country into the deepest turmoil in its modern democratic history and caught its close allies around the world off guard.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic party, dismissed Yoon’s apology as “very disappointing” and said it had only increased public anger and betrayal. “The president’s very existence is the biggest risk to South Korea right now,” Lee said, maintaining that there was “no other solution” than his immediate resignation or removal through impeachment.
PPP leader Han said after the address that the president’s early resignation was unavoidableand that he was no longer in a position to fulfil his duty. Han also said he would meet with prime minister Han Duck-soo ahead of the vote.
The national news agency Yonhap said the PPP may be looking at ways to amend the constitution to allow Yoon to make a more orderly exit, rather than being impeached. If he is removed from office, Yoon would become only the second president of South Korea since it became a democracy to have met that fate. The other was Park Geun-hye, who was removed in 2017. Ironically, Yoon, the then prosecutor general, led the corruption case that precipitated Park’s downfall.
Parliament is also expected to vote on a fourth attempt to establish a special counsel to investigate Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, right before the impeachment motion. The strategy appears designed to ensure ruling party lawmakers attend both votes, rather than boycotting the crucial impeachment decision through absence.
On Friday, Han said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law, Yoon ordered the country’s defence counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities”. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee Jae-myung and the National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, according to a lawmaker who attended a briefing with the first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
