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South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment motion on Saturday night after a last-minute deal with his conservative People Power party 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, which 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.
But following a terse apology delivered by Yoon in a one-minute address on Saturday morning, PPP leaders said they would not support the motion and walked out of the national assembly chamber.
Having voted down a bill to investigate allegations of stock 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 returned to the chamber. But the rest stayed away, leaving the vote unresolved for several hours until speaker Woo Won-shik finally drew proceedings to a close.
“Korea’s future 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 say 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 break ranks.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main leftwing opposition Democratic Party of Korea and the leading contender to succeed Yoon in the event of a presidential election, vowed to keep submitting impeachment motions until Yoon was forced out.
“The PPP is a treason party that has betrayed the public,” said Lee. “We will impeach Yoon Suk Yeol who is the biggest risk to the Republic of Korea and have the country back on track by Christmas.”
The PPP 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-old 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 direction of the country to his party and agree to stand down at a time of the party’s choosing, in return for support 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 experience 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 stay of execution, they hoped to buy themselves time to prepare for a presidential election once Yoon does eventually step down, she added.
“We feel great responsibility for the current situation . . . but the impeachment tragedy should not be repeated,” said Shin Dong-wook, spokesperson for the PPP caucus. “We will prepare measures to minimise national chaos.”
But Suh Bok-kyung, a political commentator, said it was complacent of the PPP to think an arrangement with Yoon would appease public anger.
“The public are unlikely to accept any kind of behind the scenes deal between Yoon and the party,” said Suh. “Han [Dong-hoon, the PPP leader] may think he has control over the situation but Yoon is not someone who will let Han dictate things. Once time has passed, he will do something more dangerous to retake control.”
In the meantime, the protests are set to continue. “We can’t tolerate this. We can’t go backwards,” said Oh outside the parliament. “We’ll fight until Yoon is impeached.”
