The South Korean National Assembly on Saturday (Dec 7) tabled the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol. Before the voting started, all the members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) walked out, however, only one member stayed, Ahn Cheol-soo.
Yoon shocked the whole nation after announcing martial law on Tuesday night. However, he was forced into a U-turn. Later, the opposition parties, which hold 192 seats in the 300-seat parliament filed the impeachment motion. The motion needs 200 votes to pass.
After the ruling party members walked out, the opposition leaders said that if the impeachment motion failed, they would plan to revisit it again on Wednesday next week.
Lawmakers then started voting on the South Korean president’s impeachment. As most MPs from the ruling PPP walked out before the vote, just three returned to cast ballots.
Tens of thousands of people started protesting outside the South Korean parliament, demanding Yoon’s resignation.
Who is Ahn Cheol-soo?
Ahn Cheol-soo is a three-time presidential candidate and member of the ruling People Power Party.
He is also a physician, educator, politician and computer entrepreneur, who founded AhnLab, Inc, which is South Korea’s largest Internet security firm.
In 2012, Ahn announced his candidacy in the presidential election. However, after speculations that his presidency could split the opposition vote, he walked out of the race in late November.
Then in 2020, Ahn created a new People’s Party and in 2022, he was the party’s candidate in the presidential election. However, after remaining behind in the elections, he dropped out of the race just days before the elections. Then, he started supporting Yoon’s party, which then won the elections.
Watch | South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol Apologizes After Abortive Imposition Of Martial Law
Coming back to the present scenario, Ahn broke from Yoon’s party official stance earlier today, as he announced his support for a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, The Korea Herald reported.
The party was moving further in against to President’s impeachment, however, Ahn urged Yoon and the party to set a timeline for his resignation and propose a plan for forming a neutral national unity cabinet.
“Now that President Yoon has entrusted his future to the party, it is imperative for the party to clarify the timeline for his resignation and the formation of a neutral national unity cabinet before the vote,” he said in a statement.
“I believe this is a fundamental requirement for achieving an ‘orderly resignation’ that the public can accept.”
Ahn’s statement came as another member from the ruling party Rep. Cho Kyeong-tae, who expressed support for the impeachment motion a day earlier, changed his stance and vowed to align with the party’s official position.
(With inputs from agencies)