Opposition urges ruling party lawmakers to return for impeachment vote
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik enters the main chamber during a plenary session at the National Assembly, Saturday. Yonhap
The impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol was put to a vote at the National Assembly on Saturday night, with most People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers absent, except for Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who openly supported the motion, in his seat.
Earlier that day, ruling party lawmakers hurriedly completed a revote on a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into corruption allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee.
They then left the chamber en masse, a move widely criticized as a "cowardly retreat" to avoid participating in the impeachment vote.
The PPP had previously said it opposes both the impeachment motion and the special prosecutor bill.
Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae took to the podium to introduce the impeachment motion, calling out the names of PPP lawmakers one by one.
In particular, he named the 18 PPP lawmakers who had supported a resolution to lift martial law, pleading earnestly, “Please return and fulfill your duty.”
As DPK lawmakers stood in solidarity, they chanted the names of the absent PPP members together, joined by citizens watching the live broadcast outside the National Assembly.
In what appeared to be a response to the plea, Reps. Kim Yea-ji and Kim Sang-wook later appeared in the chamber.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said, “The impeachment of a president who declared martial law is not a partisan issue but a matter of restoring Korea’s history and democracy.”
Woo declared he would wait for the PPP lawmakers to return, adding, “How do you think history, the people and the world will judge lawmakers who refuse even to participate in the vote? Can you bear that responsibility?”
The impeachment motion requires a two-thirds majority of the Assembly’s 300 members, or 200 votes, to pass.
Protesters hold a candlelight rally demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Saturday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Opposition lawmakers to wait until midnight
With 192 opposition lawmakers already in favor, at least eight votes from the ruling party are needed to pass the motion.
The impeachment motion must be voted on within 72 hours of being reported to the National Assembly. Otherwise, it will be automatically discarded. According to this rule, the motion must be voted on by 12:48 a.m. on Sunday.
Opposition lawmakers, determined to see the vote through, remained in the chamber, waiting endlessly for ruling party lawmakers to return.
The ruling party’s earlier decision to participate only in the revote of the special counsel bill before walking out sparked intense criticism and protests.
PPP lawmakers who left the chamber were confronted by opposition members and aides who accused them of being “co-conspirators in treason” and acting "shamefully in defiance of both history and the Constitution."
Many ruling party lawmakers avoided making eye contact as they were verbally attacked by opposition members and aides. Opposition aides even blocked the exits, calling the PPP members "collaborators (in treason)."
Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, who had earlier reported on the revote of the special counsel bill, also left without observing the final vote results. Woo condemned Park’s actions, saying, “For a government minister who requested a revote to leave without seeing the results is an act of extreme arrogance.”
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.