SEOUL, December 14. /TASS/. Members of South Korea’s National Assembly (parliament) will vote on an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol for the second time over his short-lived decision to declare martial law. As last week, the opposition needs to win at least eight deputies from the ruling party to its side, though the split-up in People Power Party appears to have increased.
The initiative is expected to be supported by 191 lawmakers from the opposition and a formally independent speaker. Impeaching the president would require support from 200 of the National Assembly’s 300 members. People Power controls 108 seats in the parliament.
However, by Saturday at least seven representatives of the ruling party in the parliament had publicly voiced their intention to vote for impeachment.
Last Saturday People Power boycotted the voting, though three its members departed from the party line, bringing the turnout to 195 people.
In the evening of December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law for the first time in 45 years, accusing the opposition of attempting to paralyze the executive branch, but he rescinded the measure six hours later.
On December 4, the opposition initiated impeachment proceedings, arguing that Yoon Suk Yeol violated the constitution as there were no grounds for declaring martial law.
However, even with two-thirds of the parliamentary vote, the impeachment will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. It needs a quorum of seven members to hear such matters, but currently, only six of the Court’s nine seats are filled. Judges are approved by the president. According to some interpretations of the constitution, the president may also leave some seats in the Constitutional Court vacant.