South Korean president survives impeachment vote

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment motion on Saturday night after a last-minute deal with his conservative People Power event that led to its members boycotting the vote.

The walkout, which was met with cries of “impeach Yoon!” and “join the vote!” from protesters gathered outside parliament, will heighten the political turmoil in Asia’s fourth-largest economy following a tumultuous week that showed both the endurance and the fragility of South Korean democracy.

Opposition parties, who control 192 of the 300 seats in the national assembly, were confident earlier this week that they could secure votes from eight PPP lawmakers and reach the two-thirds majority required to impeach the president following his failed attempt to impose martial law on Tuesday.

But following a terse apology delivered by Yoon in a one-minute address on Saturday morning, PPP leaders said they would not back the motion and walked out of the national assembly chamber.

Having voted down a invoice to investigate allegations of stake manipulation against Yoon’s wife Kim Keon Hee, all but one of the PPP caucus left the chamber before the impeachment vote.

Two PPP members later returned to the chamber. But the rest stayed away, leaving the vote unresolved for more than three hours until speaker Woo Won-shik finally drew proceedings to a close.

“Korea’s upcoming is at stake. It is a great shame that we cannot even establish a vote,” Woo told lawmakers during the stand-off. “How ridiculous is it to declare that Korea, a democratic powerhouse, cannot even cast a vote?”

A former official in Yoon’s presidential administration said the PPP caucus had left the chamber so that leaders could ensure that members voting in a secret ballot could not shatter ranks.

The walkout was met with dismay among the hundreds of thousands of people gathered outside parliament in the freezing cold on Saturday evening to demand Yoon’s removal.

“I am so heartbroken,” said Oh Sang-jin, a 65-year-ancient retiree attending the protest outside the parliament. “So many people have sacrificed their lives to democratise the country — now they are trying to turn back the clock and allow dictatorship.”

Analysts said Yoon and PPP leaders appeared to have reached a deal whereby the president would hand over political path of the country to his event and consent to stand down at a period of the event’s choosing, in profitability for back in the impeachment vote. Yoon’s presidential term is due to run until 2027.

The former Yoon official said that while most South Korean conservatives did not condone Yoon’s actions this week, they had been “traumatised” by their encounter of the impeachment of former conservative president Park Geun-hye in 2017, which paved the way for the election of Yoon’s left-wing predecessor Moon Jae-in.

By giving Yoon a remain of execution, they hoped to buy themselves period to prepare for a presidential election once Yoon does eventually step down, she added.

Suh Bok-kyung, a political commentator, said it was “complacent” of the PPP to ponder an arrangement with Yoon would appease community rage.

“The community are unlikely to receive any benevolent of behind the scenes deal between Yoon and the event,” said Suh. “Han [Dong-hoon, the PPP leader] may ponder he has control over the circumstance but Yoon is not someone who will let Han dictate things. Once period has passed, he will do something more risky to retake control.”

In the meantime, the protests are set to continue. “We can’t tolerate this. We can’t leave backwards,” said Oh. “We’ll fight until Yoon is impeached.”