The members of the governing body of the party say goodbye with the first vote
When the plenary session of South Korea’s national assembly came to an end, some members of the ruling People’s Party walked out of the room after voting for a special plan on the first lady’s appointment.
It appears that they are helping to vote for the declaration, BBC News reports. Some dissenting MPs shouted at the ruling party legislators: “Traitor, come back in.”
Some, however, remained in their seats. The speaker also asked the MP to stop streaming the session on YouTube.
Key events
Justin McCurry
Woo Won-shik, the speaker of the national assembly of South Korea, severely reprimanded the lawmakers of the PEOPLE’S POWER party, who left the chamber before the vote to impeach the president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
“The eyes of the South Korean people are on us and people around the world are also looking at us,” said Woo, a member of the opposition Democratic Party.
“I am not referring to you voting for or against the impeachment, but I am urging you to vote to pardon the Republic of Korea.”
One of the first PPP lawmakers said publicly that he was moved to speak to the Korean BBC about changing his mind.
Today, however, he joined his ruling colleagues in walking out of the parliament chamber before the vote.
“I decided to agree to the impeachment until yesterday because there was no word from the president’s office or public apology for martial law or any plans to follow it,” Yoon told BBC Korea. “But I heard him publicly announce the apology today.”
“Most of the National Assembly recognize that the President’s declaration of martial law was a false and wrong action,” he added. “But it must be ensured that, if impeachment is used as a means to address the wrongs of the president, it will lead to the first election of the president.”
Spokesman Woo Won-shik, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, asked members of the ruling PPP who came out earlier to vote on the bill.
“The Republic of Korea is a democracy made by the blood and tears of the people,” he said.
“Aren’t you afraid of being judged by history, by the people and the world? Participate in voting, this is the way to protect our democracy.
One of the ruling party’s MPs returns as the impeachment vote begins.
Kim Ye-ji of the PPP returned to the chamber to vote on the impeachment motion, BBC News reports.
However, with the vote on impeachment now facing up, there are still not enough MPs present for it to pass.
South Korean party chairman Yoon Suk Yeol left parliament ahead of Saturday’s planned vote in protest of an attempt to impose martial law, Reuters reported.
As lawmakers debated the motion, tabled by the main opposition Democratic Party, only one member of Yoon’s People’s Party (PPP) remained in his seat, doubting whether the measure would reach the two-thirds threshold.
The opposition needs at least eight votes from the PPP. When PPP lawmakers walked out after voting on a separate motion to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the first lady, some people shouted and cursed at them.
Opposition leaders said that if the impeachment motion fails, they will revisit it on Wednesday.
The speaker spoke with only one member remaining in the ruling room.
“This is the people,” he said. “That is the neglect of the people, the neglect of the national assembly. As representatives, you should not do this.
The remaining PPP lawmaker is Ahn Cheol-soo, who has publicly declared that he will vote down Yoon.
The impeachment vote can still go ahead, but the numbers are literally not there to reach the required 200 votes.
The South Korean parliament fails a special policy bill in the first lady
The first lady’s special policy bill did not pass and appears to have failed by just two votes.
He had 198 votes in favor, but 200 were needed to make the announcement, BBC News reports.
The bill addressed the alleged rigging of the engineering block, as well as the alleged interference of election nominations by the power sector.
The members of the governing body of the party say goodbye with the first vote
When the plenary session of South Korea’s national assembly came to an end, some members of the ruling People’s Party walked out of the room after voting for a special plan on the first lady’s appointment.
It appears that they are helping to vote for the declaration, BBC News reports. Some opposition MPs shouted at the ruling legislators: “Traitor, go back in”.
Some, however, remained in their seats. The speaker also asked the MP to stop streaming the session on YouTube.
Raphael Rashid
The Korean Bar Association backed accusation on Saturday morning saying March Yoon’s declaration does not meet the requirements of the constitution and that he is no longer fit for president.
The influential group, which has 30,000 members, said it would support efforts to investigate Yoon for his insurgency campaign regardless of the outcome of the vote.
Ordering the party to drop the impeachment motion against Yoon, Yoonhap reports
Yoon’s ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) will vote on a motion of impeachment against him, reports the national news wire Yonhap.
The opposition of eight legislators from the PPP needs a vote for impeachment to the 200,300 legislators required to impeach the president.
We will have more details when we have them.
Here are some pics from the protests seen outside parliament;
Members of civil society from all over the country descended on Seoul to take part in a demonstration outside parliament ahead of the impeachment vote, the national news wire Yonhap reports.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the country’s largest umbrella labor unions, was also among thousands of people protesting outside parliament on Saturday ahead of the impeachment vote, according to the Yonhap news wire.
“Majesty’s apology cannot cover it,” he said in a statement and called for Yoon’s “immediate prosecution and arrest.”
Yonhap also reported that a man in his 50s was detained by police after he tried to set himself on fire in protest of Yoon’s declaration of martial law, according to police.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the political crisis South Koreawhere legislators are preparing to vote on impeaching the President Yoon Suk Yeol after unsuccessfully trying to impose martial law earlier this week.
Yoon addressed the nation for the first time when he rescinded the order Wednesday, just six hours later, apologizing for his actions and promising to try again.
He said he would accept legal and political consequences and bowed to the nation in an address, but he has not resigned and it remains unclear whether he has enough opposition votes to impeach him.
That would require support from the 200-member National Assembly, but the opposition parties that have only jointly voted for the impeachment motion need a combined 192 seats, meaning at least eight votes from Yoon’s ruling People’s Power party (PPP).
PPP leader Han Dong-hun have The president is called a danger to the country. However, he is not a legislator and cannot vote, and the PPP, in a meeting of legislators at the Lord’s Supper, decided to stop the challenge.
Thousands of people gathered in Yeouido, where a national assembly was held ahead of the vote, calling for Yoon to leave, national wire Yonhap reported.
Yoon’s attempt on Tuesday to declare South Korea’s first martial law in four decades has plunged the country into the worst turmoil in modern democratic history and taken its closest allies around the world under protective cover.
Here’s what else you need to know;
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Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party; released Yoon’s apology came as “disappointing” and said it only increased public anger and betrayal. “The very existence of the president is the biggest threat to South Korea right now,” Lee said, adding that there is “no other solution” than his immediate resignation or removal by assault.
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PPP leader Han said after the email that the first president’s resignation was necessary nor that he should be in office any longer. Han also said that he will meet with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ahead of the vote.
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National news agency Yonhap said the PPP may look at ways to amend the constitution to allow Yoon to make an orderly exit rather than being charged.. If removed from office, Yoon would become South Korea’s only president since that fateful democracy. The other was Park Geun-hye, who in 2017. Ironically, Yoon, then the prosecutor general, precipitated the corruption case that precipitated Park’s downfall.
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The parliament is also expected to vote on a fourth attempt to establish a special committee to investigate Yoon Kim’s wife Keon Hee, before the prosecution moves. The plan seems to be designed so that the lawmakers of the ruling party will participate in both votes, rather than through the absence of a decision to announce the crucial announcement of the boycott.
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On Friday, Han said he had received intelligence that during a short period of martial law, Yoon ordered the country’s defense chief to arrest counterintelligence and detain unspecified key politicians on charges of “anti-state activities.”. Targeted politicians include Han, Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, according to a lawmaker who held a briefing with the president’s first director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.