Yoon Suk-yeol, President of South Korea
The attempt to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol failed after deputies from his party boycotted the vote. But the continuity of the head of state remains in question.
South Korean deputies began, this Saturday, to vote on the impeachment motion of the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, due to his decision to leave the country, which ended up in .
But the motion was doomed to failure after almost all deputies from the ruling party – Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) – had abandoned Parliament to prevent the achievement of a quorum.
The South Korean National Assembly needs at least 200 votes a total of 300 to remove the President. The PPP has 108 seats and the opposition parties 192.
Thousands on the streets demand the President’s departure
Live footage from the session showed PPP deputies leaving the chamber before the vote, despite tens of thousands of protesters lining up outside Parliament to demand Yoon leave.
🇰🇷 Update:
🔴 Thousands of people in South Korea are protesting, calling for President Yoon to step down.
— Global Whispers (@masum648)
“The people will not forgive you”Lee Wan-pyo, a 63-year-old retiree, told AFP.
South Korea “has to prevent these events from happening again,” added 19-year-old Jeon Yeon-ho.
On the other hand, there was also a demonstration in favor of Yoon in the central square of Gwanghwamun.
Fearing a new nighttime seizure of power by the President, opposition deputies camped inside the National Assembly throughout the night.
Buses and other vehicles were parked on terraces around the building to prevent special forces helicopters from landing.
According to South Korean media, only two PPP deputies decided to remain in the hemicycle.
The Democratic Party that leads the opposition has already announced that won’t give up of the intention to remove the President.
For its part, the PPP stated that it will seek a “more orderly and responsible” way to resolve this political crisis without Yoon Suk Yeol being removed from office.
Yoon apologized but won’t resign
A few hours before the Parliamentary impeachment vote, Yoon Suk-yeol presented his “sincere apologies” to the people for the imposition of martial law, but refused to resign.
“I caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I sincerely apologize”, he highlighted before making a deep bow to the South Koreans.
In a brief televised message, Yoon announced that he would entrust his party with the task of adopting “measures to stabilize the political situation“, including on the presidential term.
Yoon also promised that he will not attempt to declare martial law again, explaining that he made this decision for his “desperation as President” due to the fact that Parliament, dominated mainly by the opposition, prevented practically all of its initiatives.
Investigation of the first lady failed on suspicion of corruption
Moments before the boycott of the vote to remove the South Korean President, Parliament also failed to approve an investigation into the first lady, Kim Keon-hee, due to suspicions of corruption.
The motion to investigate Kim obtained 198 votes in favor and 102 againstso it did not reach the necessary two-thirds majority, indicating that only six PPP members voted in favor of the investigation.
