December 6, 2024
Seoul – The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced on Thursday that an impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol will be voted on on Saturday. The opposition-dominated National Assembly has sought to hold Yun accountable for what he described as acts of rebellion after he briefly declared martial law earlier this week.
In the 300-member National Assembly, a motion to impeach the South Korean president requires at least 200 votes, regardless of how many members are present. If the impeachment motion is passed, Yin will be suspended immediately until the Constitutional Court rules. Mr Yin is now halfway through his five-year term starting in May 2022.
He is the third sitting president to face impeachment by Congress. Impeachment motions against his predecessors – the late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and former President Park Geun-hye in 2016 – were both passed by the National Assembly. However, the Constitutional Court rejected Roh Moo-hyun’s removal case while upholding Park Geun-hye’s impeachment.
According to the National Assembly Act, the vote could technically take place as early as 12:48 pm on Friday. A motion to impeach the South Korean president must be held by secret vote within 24 to 72 hours after the motion is reported.
Rep. Cho Seong-rae, a senior spokesman for the Democratic Party, told reporters on Thursday that the party plans to vote on the motion at a special plenary session at around 7 p.m. on Saturday, rather than rushing to an early vote.
Jo said the party's decision would give the people and ruling party lawmakers more time to consider whether Yoon Eun-hye's actions amounted to rebellion or an attempted coup.
Democrats also said a vote on the vetoed bill that would have allowed a special prosecutor to investigate more than a dozen charges against first lady Kim Kun-hee, including election meddling, influence peddling, stock price manipulation and corruption, would also be held on Thursday. Saturday meeting.
A vote on the special prosecutor bill requires the approval of at least two-thirds of lawmakers present. The opposition has twice tried to pass similar bills during Yoon's tenure, but failed to overturn the veto.
According to the results of the April general election, the ruling People's Power Party occupied 108 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.
For example, the absence of ruling party lawmakers from Saturday's meeting could prevent Yoon's impeachment motion from being passed, but at the cost of passing a special prosecutor bill targeting Yoon's wife.
Therefore, if a vote on Yun's impeachment motion and a vote on the veto of the special prosecutor against Yun's wife are held at the same plenary session, the ruling party's boycott will be reduced, Democratic Party spokesman Rep. Roh Chung-myeon said on Thursday. Possibility of meeting.
Lee Jae-myung, a presidential candidate in the 2022 election and leader of the Democratic Party, said that the motion to impeach Yoon must be passed at the voting meeting. He criticized Yin for trying to control the entire country “like a monarch.”
Lee also called on Han Dong-hoon, a representative of the ruling People's Power Party, to “fulfill his mission bravely” to encourage ruling party lawmakers to vote in support of the motion.
On the same day, amid internal strife over whether Yoon should be impeached, South Korea's president vowed to veto the motion.
Han told reporters on Thursday that he would do his best to block Yoon's impeachment motion to “prevent people and supporters from being harmed” because they are not ready for a potential leadership vacuum in Seoul.
This was a follow-up to the party's decision to vote against impeaching Yoon at an emergency meeting on Wednesday night.
As they prepare the impeachment bill, the main opposition parties have raised the stakes, saying they will also push a motion to appoint an independent prosecutor to handle Yin's case.
Regarding the independent prosecutor against Yoon, the Democratic Party announced its plan to reach a resolution on Monday.
According to the Independent Prosecutor Appointment Act, the appointment of an independent prosecutor requires a congressional resolution and is therefore not subject to Yin's veto.
Mr. Yin remained silent as of press time Thursday. His office released a brief statement Thursday morning saying he had accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
