South Korea’s opposition leader said on Sunday that his party will push for a second vote on a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, announced that the party plans to have parliamentarians vote on the impeachment motion again on Saturday, 14 December.
Lee reiterated his stance that Yoon must resign immediately or face impeachment, denouncing the ruling party’s statement earlier in the day that they would devise an orderly plan for Yoon to step down early.
Lee’s remarks came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him for sending heavily armed soldiers into Seoul’s streets with a baffling declaration of martial law that reminded many of the country’s past military-backed dictatorships.
Most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a floor vote on Saturday to prevent the two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers.
South Koreans demand impeachment
But the president remains in a precarious position. The vote’s defeat is likely to fuel nationwide protests and escalate political turmoil.
“These people have been here every day. Because they will not accept a president who sidelines parliament,” said one of thousands of protestors in front of the Parliament.
“In 1980 in Gwangju, martial law led to a mass murder. I saw it with my own eyes. I can`t believe that the same thing is happening again 50 years later,” said another senior one.
- South Korea impeachment motion stalls after governing lawmakers boycott vote
In recent days, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Seoul, the South Korean capital, to demand Yoon’s departure.
How did Yoon survive the vote?
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol survived the impeachment motion thanks to a boycott by his ruling People Power Party (PPP), resulting in insufficient MPs to pass the motion.
The motion required 200 votes from the 300 MPs, but only 195 were present, with 192 from opposition parties and three from the PPP. The majority of the president’s party members had left the room before the vote, preventing the necessary majority for the motion to pass.
