Second martial law impeachment vote looms for South Korea's Yoon

SEOUL: South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung warned his ruling party colleagues on Friday (Dec 13) that "history will remember" if they do not back the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, with just over 24 hours until a vote to remove him from office.

Yoon's short-lived imposition of South Korea's first martial law in over four decades plunged the country's vibrant and combative democracy into some of its worst political turmoil in years.

An attempt to remove him from office last Saturday failed when nearly all lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the impeachment motion.

But after a week of back-door politicking and a mounting investigation into Yoon and his inner circle, analysts now say the main opposition Democratic Party may have better luck with its second attempt.

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Saturday's impeachment vote will take place around 4pm local time (3pm Singapore time), with Yoon charged with "insurrectionary acts undermining the constitutional order" for his martial law bid.

The vote had originally been set for 5pm.

"Given the national significance and gravity of the matter, the plenary session was finalised for 4pm to allow adequate time for thorough discussions and consultations," the National Assembly Speaker's Office said on Friday afternoon. 

SECOND TRY

Two hundred votes are needed for the impeachment motion to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight ruling party colleagues to defect.

Two ruling party lawmakers supported the motion last week.

And as of Friday noon, seven ruling party lawmakers have pledged to support impeachment - leaving the vote on a knife edge.

But members of the opposition are confident they will get the votes.

Lawmaker Kim Min-seok said Friday he was "99 per cent" sure the impeachment will pass.

Yoon on Thursday vowed to "fight to the end", blaming the opposition party for paralysing the government and claiming a North Korean hack into the election commission made his party's crushing defeat in an April parliamentary election questionable.

In a lengthy televised address, Yoon said the opposition was "dancing the sword dance of madness" by trying to drag a democratically elected president from power.

"I will fight to the end," he said in a lengthy address broadcast on television. "Whether they impeach me or investigate me, I will face it all squarely."

Lee called Yoon's remarks "a declaration of war" against the people. "It proved that impeachment is the fastest and the most effect way to end the confusion", he said.

He also implored the PPP to support the president's removal from office and said it was the best way to restore order in the country. 

"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."

BALL WITH THE COURT

Should it pass, Yoon will be suspended from office while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates.

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

The court will then have 180 days to rule on Yoon's future. If it backs his removal, Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be 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, Yoon can still face "legal responsibility" for the martial law bid, 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."

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

Yoon, several Cabinet ministers, military commanders and police officials face criminal investigations over the botched martial law move. 

Prosecutors, the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials have all launched probes into Yoon and the officials, seeking to pursue charges of insurrection and abuse of power, among others.

Besides Yoon, his former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, former interior minister Lee Sang-min and army chief Park An-su, who was named martial law commander, face investigations.

As part of ongoing investigations, prosecutors on Friday arrested an army commander in the Capital Defence Command, and the country's two most senior police officers - the national and Seoul police chiefs - were detained for alleged involvement in the martial law order, Yonhap news agency reported.

"SO ANGRY"

Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant as the fallout from his disastrous martial law has deepened.

Thousands have taken to the streets of Seoul since Yoon's martial law declaration to demand his resignation and jailing.

Yoon's approval rating - never very high - has plummeted to 11 per cent, according to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday.

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

Protesters run the gamut of South Korean society - from K-pop fans waving glowsticks to retirees and blue-collar workers.

"Impeachment is a must and we must fight relentlessly," Kim Sung-tae, a 52-year-old worker at a company that makes car parts, told AFP.

"We're fighting for the restoration of democracy."

Teacher Kim Hwan-ii agreed.

"I'm so angry that we all have to pay the price for electing this president."