South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced on Saturday (Dec 7) that the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol failed.
The motion was led by opposition parties to impeach President Yoon over his brief declaration of martial law.
“With a total of 195 votes, the number of members who voted did not reach the required two-thirds majority of the total members. Therefore, I declare that the vote on this matter is not valid,” National Assembly Speaker Woo said.
Yoon earlier in the day apologised for his attempt to impose martial law this week but did not resign, defying intense pressure to step down even from some in his ruling party.
Here’s a look at what has happened so far:
> The impeachment motion against President Yoon was introduced by the main opposition Democratic Party. While lawmakers debated the motion on Saturday, only a single member of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) remained in his seat while a couple of others returned during voting, casting doubt over whether the measure would have enough votes to pass.
> Opposition parties, which hold 192 seats in the 300-seat parliament filed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes to pass and went to the vote on Saturday evening.
> But almost all 108 members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) filed out of the chamber before the vote, prompting critical shouts from the opposition – with one yelling “Where are you going?” and others calling them “accomplices to insurrection”.
> Only three PPP members cast ballots, but speaker Woo Won-shik stopped short of calling the result, appealing to PPP lawmakers to return and cast their votes “to protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy.”
> Meanwhile, as PPP lawmakers departed after casting votes on a separate motion to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the First Lady, some people shouted and cursed them.
> Ahead of the vote on the opposition-led impeachment motion, giant screens to show parliament live feeds were set up across the eight-lane road by the National Assembly, which had been closed off to serve as a rally site.
> Many protesters held banners saying: “impeach Yoon” and “insurrection criminal” and sang songs with lyrics such as “South Korea is a democratic Republic,” a report by the news agency AFP said.
(With inputs from agencies)