The motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for his declaration of martial law earlier this week was scrapped Saturday, after his ruling party defended the embattled leader by refusing to vote.
Even if Yoon has officially avoided impeachment, political turmoil is projected to continue, with the main opposition pledging to repeatedly submit impeachment motions until Yoon is suspended.
The motion was defeated in Saturday's plenary session, after failing to secure the required two-thirds majority, support from 200 out of the 300 members, in the National Assembly.
Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik apologized to the people on "behalf of the parliament" as he announced the Assembly's failure to pass the motion.
Most ruling People Power Party lawmakers left the chamber shortly after voting against a bill to launch a special counsel investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee. People Power Party Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who previously said he would vote in favor of the motion if Yoon refused to step down, remained in the chamber to cast his vote. Reps. Kim Yea-ji and Kim Sang-wook left the chamber at first but returned to participate in the vote.
Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers could not hide their disappointment as ruling party lawmakers walked out of the chamber to protest the vote.
The ruling party, which holds 108 seats in the Assembly, maintained an official stance of voting against the impeachment motion, despite few of its members having expressed willingness to vote in favor, both openly and indirectly, in recent days.
This marked the third time the National Assembly submitted a motion to impeach the president.
The previous two were passed by the Assembly in March 2004 and Dec. 9, 2016 against late President Roh Moo-hyun and former President Park Geun-hye, respectively. The Constitutional Court ultimately rejected the motion against Roh, while confirming Park's impeachment.
The main opposition, around noon, revealed plans to “repeatedly” draft and submit impeachment motions against Yoon if the proposal fails to pass the Assembly on Saturday.
“We will repeatedly float (the impeachment motion until it is passed in the Assembly),” main opposition leader and Democratic Party Rep. Lee Jae-myung said in a press briefing.
The next motion would be submitted and put to vote on Dec. 11, during an extraordinary plenary meeting, according to Democratic Party Floor Leader Park Chan-dae. The opposition coalition has accused Yoon of committing treason when he had troops break into the Assembly under martial law.
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets around 3 p.m. to either call for the ouster of Yoon or for the Assembly to vote against the impeachment motion.
While Yoon has dodged impeachment for the time being, the ruling bloc is expected to try to come up with a solution to stabilize the political situation, which observers said could include measures to loosen the current president's grip on state affairs.
Yoon, in a brief televised address aired Saturday morning, said that he would “leave it up to” his party to “take steps to stabilize the political situation,” including the issue of his term in office. He also apologized to the public for causing concerns due to his surprise martial law decree.
Around noon, the ruling party leader held an 80-minute meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who would serve as the country’s leader in an acting capacity if the president resigned.
The two sides have decided to closely communicate and oversee the economic issues concerning the people’s livelihoods, according to the ruling party chief.
People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon told reporters in the morning that “it is inevitable for the president” to step down from his position earlier than expected after Yoon’s apology to the public was televised. He cited the president’s inability to carry out his duties as president behind his claim.
But he did not provide details on how Yoon should step down such as impeachment or constitutional amendment that would cap the presidential term to four years instead of the current single five-year term. The proposed amendment would allow a president to be elected for a total of eight years, or two four-year terms. This would end Yoon's term early, in May 2026, and he would technically not have the option of reelection.
Several in the conservative ruling bloc in recent days have floated ideas of bolstering the constitutional power of the prime minister. The “pro-Han Dong-hoon” faction ruling party lawmakers pushed for a constitutional amendment to change the limit of the presidential term as a key resolution as another solution.
On top of the main opposition's plan to continue floating impeachment motions, Yoon is expected to be subjected to multiple investigations from law enforcement agencies.
Two law enforcement agencies announced they would form separate investigation teams looking into Yoon’s martial law decree as of Friday, with observers saying the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials could carry out its own investigation.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office announced Friday that it had formed a special investigative unit for the “cases tied to martial law decree.” The team will be led by Park Se-hyun, chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office, and will be jointly conducted with military prosecutors, the top prosecution office explained.
Police said earlier in the week they established a designated investigation team of some 120 personnel to look into four complaints accusing Yoon and others of treason, mutiny and abuse of power in connection with his martial law decree.
The revote on a bill that mandates special counsel investigation into multiple scandals surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, including her alleged involvement in a stock manipulation case that unfolded more than a decade ago, was held before the vote on the impeachment motion. The bill was scrapped in the revote, with 102 voting against and 198 voting in favor. In a revote, a bill requires at least two-thirds of the Assembly to vote in favor to pass.
The bill, which marks the third of its kind targeting the first lady, was passed by the opposition-led Assembly on Nov. 14, in a simple majority, and was vetoed by Yoon on Nov. 26.
Yoon’s popularity, which has been steadily falling since he first took office in May 2022, fell to a record low of 13 percent, according to the survey conducted by Gallup on 1,001 adults aged over 18 from Tuesday to Thursday. It was down by 6 percentage points on-week.
