South Korean President Avoids Impeachment

Five votes short.

The National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Korea failed to gather the necessary number of votes to impeach President Yoon Seok-yeol. 195 deputies voted for the impeachment of the head of state, while 200 were needed, according to an online broadcast on YTN.

Representatives of opposition parties had previously prepared and submitted a resolution on the president’s resignation to parliament. They accused the head of state of attempting to seize power by force and exceeding his authority by declaring martial law without legal grounds.

Late in the evening of December 3, Yoon Seok-yeol made an emergency address to the nation, in which he announced the introduction of martial law — for the first time since 1980. He explained his move by the actions of “unprincipled pro-North Korean anti-state forces” — this is how conservatives often call the opposition Democratic Party (Toburo), which advocates normalizing relations with the DPRK.

The reason for the introduction of martial law was the growing disagreement between the president and the parliament, where Toburo has a majority. Earlier, the National Assembly wanted to cut the budget proposed by Yun, and also initiated impeachment proceedings against a number of government officials, including prosecutors who refused to bring charges against First Lady Kim Kong-hee for manipulating the stock prices of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in the country, between 2009 and 2012.

With the introduction of martial law, any political activity is prohibited in the country, including the work of parliament and parties. Nevertheless, most of the deputies arrived at the National Assembly before the military arrived there. Having barricaded themselves, all 190 deputies present voted to immediately lift martial law.

According to the constitution, the president was obliged to submit to their will, and he abolished the regime early in the morning of December 4. That same day, the Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties launched impeachment proceedings against Yoon. Yoon will remain in office. However, it is likely that the opposition will try to impeach him again.

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