Will second impeachment vote for South Korea’s Yoon be different?

SEOUL - With seven ruling party members now saying they will back a second impeachment vote against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the motion looks likely to need just one more backer to pass.

Representatives Jin Jong-oh and Han Ji-ah of the People Power Party revealed their decisions for the Dec 14 impeachment vote, becoming the sixth and seventh ruling party lawmakers who will vote for Mr Yoon’s impeachment following Representatives Kim Sang-wook, Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Yea-ji, Cho Kyung-tae and Kim Jae-sub.

The impeachment motion requires at least two-thirds of the 300-member Assembly to vote for it in order for it to be forwarded to the Constitutional Court, which has the authority to finalise the impeachment.

With the opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, holding a combined 192 seats in the Assembly, at least eight lawmakers from PPP would have to vote in favour of the impeachment Bill.

Mr Jin, a former South Korean Olympic shooting medallist, also shared that he recognised

the martial law declaration

destroyed both his and the ruling party’s value and philosophy.

“I will vote in favour. This is a decision to protect the democracy and constitutional order of the Republic of Korea,” he said in a press conference at the National Assembly, using the formal name for South Korea.

Doctor-turned-lawmaker Han shared her decision to cast the vote in a social media post.

She said if the ruling party’s decision does not conform to the public’s common sense, the party needs to acknowledge its fault and correct it quickly.

“The President’s political future is decided not by himself, but by the people. Our party needs to follow our people’s decision,” she added in her online post. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK