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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment move on Saturday night following a last-minute deal with his conservative People Power party that led to its members boycotting the vote. votes.
The walkout was met with shouts of “impeach Yoon!” and “participate in voting!” from protesters gathering outside parliament, will increase political instability in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, after a tumultuous week that showed both the economic strength and fragility. Korean democracy.
Opposition parties, which control 192 of the 300 seats in parliament, were confident earlier this week that they could win votes from eight PPP lawmakers and achieve the two-thirds majority needed to impeach the general. President after his failed attempt to impose martial law.
But after a brief apology given by Yoon in a minute-long speech on Saturday morning, PPP leaders said they would not support the motion and walked out of the parliamentary chamber.
After voting down a bill to investigate stock manipulation allegations against Yoon’s wife Kim Keon Hee, all but one member of the PPP caucus left the meeting room before the impeachment vote.
Two PPP members returned to the meeting room. But the rest stayed away, leaving the vote unresolved for several hours until speaker Woo Won-shik finally ended the proceedings.
“Korea’s future is at stake. It’s a shame that we couldn’t even set up a vote,” Woo told lawmakers during the standoff. “Is it ridiculous to say that South Korea, a democratic powerhouse, cannot even vote?”
A former official in Yoon’s presidential administration said the PPP caucus left the room so leaders could ensure that caucus members could not break ranks.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main left-wing opposition Democratic Party and a leading candidate to succeed Yoon in the event of a presidential election, vowed to continue filing impeachment motions until Yoon is convicted. forced to quit.
“The PPP is a treasonous party that has betrayed the public,” Lee said. “We will impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the biggest threat to South Korea, and bring the country back to normal by Christmas.”
The PPP strike was met with frustration by hundreds of thousands of people who gathered outside parliament in the freezing cold on Saturday night to demand Yoon’s removal.
“I am heartbroken,” said Oh Sang-jin, a 65-year-old retiree who joined the protest outside parliament. “So many people sacrificed their lives to democratize the country — now they are trying to turn back the clock and allow dictatorship.”
Analysts said Yoon and PPP leaders appeared to have reached an agreement under which the president would hand over political direction of the country to his party and agree to step down at a time of the party’s choosing, in exchange for support in the impeachment vote. Yoon’s presidential term will last until 2027.
Former official Yoon said that although most Korean conservatives do not forgive Yoon’s actions this week, they were traumatized by their experience of the impeachment of former conservative president Park Geun -hye in 2017, paving the way for Yoon’s leftist election. -wing predecessor Moon Jae-in.
By granting Yoon a stay of execution, she added, they hope to buy time to prepare for the presidential election when Yoon eventually steps down.
“We feel great responsibility for the current situation. . . but the impeachment tragedy should not be repeated,” said Shin Dong-wook, spokesman for the PPP caucus. “We will prepare measures to minimize chaos nationwide.”
But Suh Bok-kyung, a political commentator, said the PPP was complacent in thinking that a deal with Yoon would appease public anger.
“The public is unlikely to accept any form of backroom deal between Yoon and the party,” Suh said. “Weld [Dong-hoon, the PPP leader] may think he can control the situation but Yoon is not someone for Han to dictate things to. Once time passes, he will do something more dangerous to regain control.”
Meanwhile, the protests will continue. “We cannot stand this. We cannot go backwards,” Oh said outside parliament. “We will fight until Yoon is impeached.”
