South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol survives impeachment motion

By  News On Air   Dec 07, 2024

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment motion in the opposition-led parliament after members of his party boycotted the vote. Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three politicians from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes did not reach 200.

President Yoon declared emergency martial law in an unexpected decision on Tuesday night but subsequently lifted it hours later as the opposition-controlled Parliament voted to reject it. Earlier in the day, in a televised address to the nation, the South Korean President issued a public apology ahead of the impeachment vote, promising to face any legal or political consequences and pledged that he wouldn’t order martial law again.

Meanwhile, members of President Yoon’s party left Parliament ahead of a planned impeachment vote. At least 200 votes are required to pass the impeachment bill. Opposition leaders have said if the impeachment motion fails, they plan to revisit it again on Wednesday.