South Korea’s opposition leader warned his ruling party colleagues on Friday that “history will remember” if they do not support President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, with just over 24 hours until the vote to remove him from office.
Yoon’s brief installation of South Korea’s first martial law in over four decades sent the country’s vibrant and combative democracy into some of its most serious political upheaval in years.
An attempt to remove him from office last Saturday failed because MPs from the ruling People Power Party boycotted the impeachment resolution.
However, following a week of backdoor politicking and an ongoing probe into Yoon and his inner circle, observers now believe the main opposition Democratic Party will have a stronger chance with its second effort.
The impeachment vote on Saturday will take place around 5:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), with Yoon accused of “insurrectionary acts undermining the constitutional order” for attempting to impose martial law.
Two hundred votes are required for it to pass, which means opposition MPs must persuade eight ruling party members to defect.
On Friday, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung urged the PPP to support the president’s removal from office.
“What the lawmakers must protect is neither Yoon nor the ruling People Power Party but the lives of the people wailing out in the freezing streets,” Lee said.
“Please join in supporting the impeachment vote tomorrow. History will remember and record your choice.”
Last Monday, two members from the ruling party supported the move. And, as of Friday midday, seven ruling party MPs had vowed to support impeachment, putting the vote on a razor’s edge.
However, opposition members are sure that they will win the vote. Kim Min-Seok, a lawmaker, said Friday he was “99 percent” certain the impeachment would pass.
If it passes, Yoon will be suspended from office while the Constitutional Court deliberates.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as acting president during this period.
The court will then have 180 days to decide on Yoon’s future. If it supports his removal, Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be impeached.
There is also judicial precedent for the court to block impeachment: in 2004, then-President Roh Moo-hyun was removed by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence.
But the Constitutional Court later reinstated him.
The court also currently only has six judges, meaning their decision would need to be unanimous.
However, the Constitutional Court later reinstated him. The court also now has only six judges, so any decision would have to be unanimous.
“This is clearly an act of insurrection,” she said.
“Even if the impeachment motion does not pass, the President’s legal responsibilities under the Criminal Code… cannot be avoided.”
Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant as the consequences of his disastrous martial law have grown.
In a televised address on Thursday, he vowed to fight “until the very last minute” and reiterated unfounded assertions that the opposition was working with the country’s communist opponents.
Thousands of people have marched in the streets of Seoul since Yoon declared martial law, demanding his resignation and imprisonment.
Yoon’s approval rating, which was never very strong, has dropped to 11 percent, according to a Gallup Korea poll issued Friday.
