South Korea’s parliament is set to vote again on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his short-lived attempt to declare martial law earlier this month.
It was a decision that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis and triggered calls for Mr Yoon to step down on the grounds he had broken the law.
The country’s opposition parties plan to hold the vote at 4pm today (7am in the UK) and need two-thirds of the National Assembly to back the motion, meaning at least 200 MPs.
While the opposition commands 192 seats, a vote to impeach the president failed last Saturday when all but one MP from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote.
Since then at least seven PPP MPs have said they would back removing Mr Yoon from office, with party leader Han Dong-hoon urging them to do so.
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President’s order ‘hurts peace’
PPP MP Ahn Cheol-soo said on Facebook he would support the motion “for the sake of swift stabilisation of people’s livelihood, economy and diplomacy”.
But PPP floor leader Kweon Seong-dong said the party’s stance is still to oppose the motion, with MPs set to meet early today to discuss how to vote.
The latest impeachment motion alleges that Mr Yoon “committed rebellion that hurts peace” in South Korea “by staging a series of riots”, adding the mobilisation of military and police forces had threatened the National Assembly and the public.
After declaring a state of emergency on 3 December, the president sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament to try to impede a vote on the decree.
Martial law only lasted about six hours after parliament voted to block the order and people took to the streets in protest. The president later apologised for the incident.
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Yoon vows to ‘fight to the end’
Large demonstrations are also set to take place in Seoul ahead of the vote, marking the latest in a series of protests that have seen tens of thousands calling for the ousting and arrest of the president.
Some K-pop celebrities have said they plan to donate food and drinks for those participating in the rally, while others have used delivery apps to pre-order food and coffee for protesters.
Smaller groups of Mr Yoon’s conservative supporters – still in the thousands – are also expected to join counter-protests in Seoul. They argue the opposition-led impeachment motion is “unconstitutional” and “false propaganda”.
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Mr Yoon has meanwhile defied calls to resign and vowed on Thursday to “fight to the end” to stop “forces and criminal groups” he said were “threatening the future of the Republic of Korea”.
He claimed the martial law order was necessary to overcome political deadlock, despite originally saying it was to “eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces”.
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If impeached, Mr Yoon’s presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to restore them or remove him from office.
He has also separately been placed under criminal investigation for alleged insurrection over the martial law declaration.
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Authorities have banned him and others – including former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun, under investigation on insurrection charges – from travelling overseas.
Officials said on Wednesday that Mr Kim, the first person arrested over the martial law decree, tried to take his own life while being held in detention. The country’s justice ministry has said he is in a stable condition.
