South Korea’s President Yoon faces second martial law impeachment vote as thousands rally

SEOUL - South Korean lawmakers on Dec 14 formally kicked off deliberations on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over

his failed martial law bid

, as thousands took to the streets of Seoul in rival rallies for and against him.

South Korea’s parliament began deliberations just after 4pm (3pm, Singapore time) on an impeachment resolution – a

week after a first attempt

to remove Mr Yoon for the martial law debacle failed.

Protests demanding Mr Yoon step down kicked off around midday outside the National Assembly, which will vote around 4pm (3pm, Singapore time) on an impeachment resolution for “insurrectionary acts” – a

week after a first attempt

to remove him failed.

Two hundred votes are needed for the impeachment to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight parliamentarians from Mr Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides. Seven have pledged to do so.

A Seoul police official told AFP they estimated at least 200,000 people have rallied outside parliament in support of removing the president.

“If Yoon isn’t impeached today, I’ll return next week,” said protestor Yoo Hee-jin, 24.

“I’ll keep coming every week until it happens.”

On the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun square, thousands more rallied in support of Mr Yoon, blasting patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags.

“Yoon had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of every decision he has made as president,” supporter Choi Hee-sun, 62, told AFP.

The South Korean president has vowed to fight on and doubled down on unsubstantiated claims the opposition is in league with the country’s communist foes.

Defend democracy

The main opposition Democratic Party on Dec 14 said that a vote for impeachment was the “only way” to “safeguard the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy and South Korea’s future”.

“We can no longer endure Yoon’s madness,” spokeswoman Hwang Jung-a said.

At the rally outside parliament supporting impeachment, volunteers gave out free hand warmers to fight the sub-zero temperatures, as well as coffee and food.

And K-pop singer Yuri of the band Girl’s Generation – whose song “Into the New World” has become a protest anthem – said she had pre-paid for food for fans attending the rally.

“Stay safe and take care of your health!” she said on a superfan chat platform.

And one protester said she had rented a bus so that parents at the rally could use it to change diapers and feed their babies.

Another said they had initially planned to spend their day on Dec 14 hiking.

“But I came here instead to support my fellow citizens,” Mr Kim Deuk-yun, 58, told AFP.

On Dec 13, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Mr Lee Jae-myung, implored ruling PPP lawmakers to side with the protesters and back Mr Yoon’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,” Mr Lee said.

“Please join in supporting the impeachment vote tomorrow. History will remember and record your choice.”

Two PPP lawmakers supported the motion last week.

Opposition lawmaker Kim Min-seok said on Dec 13 he was “99 per cent” sure the impeachment motion would pass.

Insurrection claims

Should his impeachment be approved, Mr Yoon will be suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would step in as the interim president during that time.

The court will then have 180 days to rule on Mr Yoon’s future. If it backs his removal, Mr Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.

There is also 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.

And should the vote fail, Mr Yoon can still face “legal responsibility” for the martial law bid, Ms Kim Hyun-jung, a researcher at the Korea University Institute of Law, told AFP.

“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.”

‘So angry’

Mr Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant as the fallout from his disastrous martial law declaration has deepened and an investigation into his inner circle has widened.

His approval rating - never high - has plummeted to 11 per cent,

according to a Gallup Korea poll released on Dec 13.

The same poll showed 75 per cent now support his impeachment. AFP