A motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was on the brink of failure on Saturday after lawmakers from his ruling party boycotted the vote despite huge protests outside parliament.
Yoon stunned the nation and the international community on Tuesday night when he suspended civilian rule and sent troops into parliament, but was forced to reverse after lawmakers blocked his decree.
The opposition parties, which have 192 seats in the 300-member parliament, filed a motion for impeachment and proceeded to vote. 200 votes were needed to approve the proposal.
But almost all 108 members of Mr Yoon’s People’s Party (PPP) walked out of the chamber ahead of the vote, prompting critical cries from the opposition, with one shouting “where are you going?” and others calling them “accomplices to the uprising”.
Only three PPP members voted.
Woo Won-shik, the speaker of the National Assembly, paused before the result was announced and called on other PPP lawmakers to return to “protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy.”
The likely outcome is likely to enrage the crowds – nearly 150,000 people according to police and a million according to organizers – demonstrating outside parliament to oust Mr Yoon.
Protesters booed while some sighed in frustration and cried as ruling party lawmakers left the chamber. Some protesters went home.
Jo Ah-gyeong, 30, told AFP: “Even though we didn’t get the result we wanted today, I’m neither discouraged nor disappointed because we will get it in the end.
“I’ll keep coming here until we get it. I would like to say this to the ruling MPs: Please do your dirty work.”
Across the city, thousands of pro-Yoon protesters gathered for a rally in Seoul’s main square.
Before the vote, Mr. Yoon, 63, apologized for the unrest but said he would leave the decision on his fate to his party.
In his first appearance in three days in a televised address, he said: “I have caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I sincerely apologize.”
He said he would “entrust the party with measures to stabilize the political situation”, including his term of office.
The support from PPP lawmakers came despite Han Dong-hoon, the party chief who was reportedly on the arrest list on Tuesday night, saying Mr Yoon must go.
If the motion still passes, Mr. Yoon will be suspended from office pending a decision by the Constitutional Court.
Opposition Leader Lee Jae-myung said Mr Yoon’s comments on Saturday were “a big disappointment” given the widespread anger among South Koreans.
Mr Lee said Mr Yoon’s speech “only exacerbates the sense of betrayal and anger among citizens” and that the only solution was “the immediate resignation of the president or an early exit through impeachment”.
An opinion poll released Friday put the president’s approval rating at a record low of 13 percent.
Lee Wan-pyo, a 63-year-old retiree, said before the vote: “The public will not forgive him.”
Han Jeong-hwa, a 70-year-old housewife, said: “I just want him to resign.”
Regardless of the vote, police began investigating Mr. Yoon and others for alleged rebellion.
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In his Dec. 3 martial law declaration speech, Mr. Yoon claimed it would “eliminate anti-state elements robbing people of freedom and happiness.”
Security forces sealed off the national assembly, helicopters landed on the roof and nearly 300 soldiers tried to lock down the building.
But when parliament staff blocked the soldiers with sofas and fire extinguishers, enough MPs got inside – many climbing the walls to enter – and voted down Mr Yoon’s move.
Troops were ordered to detain key politicians, lawmakers from both parties said, with the head of special forces later describing being ordered to “pull” lawmakers out of parliament.
Experts and lawmakers have speculated that elite special forces soldiers may have been slow to follow orders when they realized they were involved in a political incident rather than national security.
The episode brought back painful memories of South Korea’s autocratic past and blindsided its allies, with the US administration learning only through television.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, told his Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Friday that he “expects the … democratic process to prevail”.