SEOUL – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who stunned the world by declaring martial law this week, narrowly avoided impeachment as his party's lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary vote to oust him on Saturday.
The opposition MPs' motion accused him of insurrection and called his decree an unconstitutional self-coup.
“The President abused the trust of the people and lost the right to conduct state affairs,” the impeachment motion reads.
In Seoul, South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik bangs the gavel to announce that a vote on impeaching President Yoon Suk-yeol could not take place because a quorum was not reached.
(Jeon Heon-kyun/Associated Press)
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the National Assembly to cheer his removal. An increase in protests can now be expected.
“We won't give up. We will prevail,” liberal opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said after the motion failed. “By Christmas, we will give people the end-of-year gift of getting the country back to normal.”
The Liberal party said it would resubmit the motion at the next parliamentary session on Wednesday – and every week thereafter until it is passed. The question is whether enough members of Yoon's conservative ruling party will vote to oust him while he has two and a half years left in his term, potentially handing the presidency to the liberal opposition.
Impeachment against Yoon requires the support of at least two-thirds of the 300-member National Assembly – or 200 votes. Because the opposition coalition has 192 seats, impeachment requires eight or more votes from Yoon's conservative People Power Party.
In the days following the declaration of martial law, some ruling party lawmakers indicated they would at least consider impeachment. But only three of them showed up to vote on Saturday, the remaining 105 left the plenary hall in protest.
Outside the National Assembly, the crowd that had gathered to demand Yoon's removal let out a cry of frustration.
Among them were citizens who had traveled for hours and students who were in the crowd preparing for exams while keeping an eye on the news.
“Arrest Yoon Suk-yeol!” they chanted as they marched along the promenade.
When Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday, he railed against the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which he called a “den of criminals” and North Korea sympathizers.
General Park An-su, whom Yoon appointed as his martial law commander, then suspended all political activities and declared the media under military control. For many in South Korea, the move was a shocking reminder of the country's previous military dictatorships.
But three hours after Yoon's decree, lawmakers – many of whom stormed the gates of the locked-down National Assembly – voted unanimously to overrule Yoon and demanded he rescind the decree.
On Saturday morning, in a two-minute address to the nation, Yoon apologized for the public's inconvenience and said he was motivated by “desperation.”
While Yoon reportedly told his officials and party members that his decree was intended to send a message to an opposing legislature — which has launched numerous impeachment proceedings against his appointees and investigated his wife for bribery and stock manipulation — many of them, including his own party members say , they believe he had much more sinister motives.
Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party, said there were signs that the special forces soldiers who stormed the National Assembly were acting on orders to arrest him and other lawmakers. Opposition leader Lee, whom Yoon narrowly defeated in the presidential election two years ago, said the same.
“We have confirmed that President Yoon has ordered the arrest of key politicians on the grounds that they are anti-state forces,” Han said at a party meeting on Friday.
“I don’t think we can pretend nothing happened.”
While Han stated that this was based on “credible” sources, he did not elaborate, only offering that these plans would be made public “through various channels” in due course.
In a meeting with Han the same day, Yoon denied giving such an order, Han said.
Hong Jang-won, a senior official at the National Intelligence Service, the country's spy agency, told lawmakers on Friday that Yoon called him to order the arrest of several lawmakers, including party leaders Lee and Han. Spy chief Cho Tae-yong has denied Hong's allegations.
But even though Han and most of his party allies condemned the declaration of martial law as unconstitutional and acknowledged that Yoon must ultimately be removed from office, they resisted impeachment.
For South Korean conservatives, impeachment is their raw nerve, and they have reason to proceed cautiously.
The first and only South Korean president to be successfully impeached was the conservative Park Geun-hye, who was later investigated and jailed on corruption charges. Her fall split the conservative camp and paved the way for liberal successor Moon Jae-in, whose term conservatives describe as “the lost five years.”
Crucial to the success of Park's impeachment was a bloc of conservative MPs who joined the opposition and voted for it.
For this reason, many party loyalists are determined to avoid the same fate this time.
“We cannot allow more traitors to surrender to the enemy like Park Geun-hye did,” Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo wrote on social media on Wednesday.
Instead, Yoon's party members have proposed more moderate solutions that would allow Yoon's “orderly resignation,” such as revising the constitution to shorten his term in office, transferring some of his presidential powers to the prime minister or forming a bipartisan cabinet.
In his recent public address, Yoon said he would leave his fate to the party and suggested he may hand over much of his authority to Han if he avoids impeachment.
The liberal opposition has rejected any alternative to impeachment, calling Yoon a “ticking time bomb.”
“He is currently in a very disturbing mental state. “We don't have time to discuss anything like an 'orderly resignation,'” Liberal Party spokesman Yoon Jong-kun told reporters Saturday morning.
“Only Yoon’s immediate removal from office and impeachment can ease the people’s anger and South Korea’s declining international credit.”
The Liberal Party said it would resubmit the motion on Wednesday.
“We will propose it repeatedly,” Lee said, “until it passes.”