In South Korea, MPs began voting on the motion to impeach the president

South Korean MPs began voting on Saturday, December 7, on the motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed attempt to impose martial law, while nearly 150,000 opponents of Mr. Yoon gathered in front of Parliament, according to the authorities.

The vote and the result of the impeachment motion had to take place within 72 hours of its submission, i.e. until around 1 a.m. Sunday (5 p.m. in France), otherwise it would be canceled.

Almost all the deputies of the People's Power Party (PPP) of the South Korean president left the chamber in order to block, due to lack of quorum, the impeachment motion filed by the opposition against the head of state. At least 200 votes out of 300 are needed in South Korea's National Assembly to impeach the president. Mr. Yoon's PPP has 108 seats and the opposition parties have 192.

The images of the session broadcast live showed the PPP deputies leaving the chamber before the vote. Only two PPP elected officials initially stayed and participated. A third showed up a little later and also voted, to applause.

Yoon Suk Yeol stunned South Korea on Tuesday evening by announcing the imposition of martial law, an unprecedented measure since the coup d'état by the dictator, Chun Doo-hwan, in 1980, and by sending the army in Parliament with the aim of muzzling him.

In incredible conditions, 190 deputies still managed to hold an emergency session in the night, while their assistants blocked the doors of the hemicycle with furniture to prevent armed soldiers from entering. Unanimously, these deputies voted against martial law, forcing the unpopular conservative president to repeal it after barely six hours.

“I have caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public”

In a televised address to the nation lasting just two minutes on Saturday morning, Mr. Yoon, 63, announced that he would entrust his party with taking care of “measures aimed at stabilizing the political situation, including regarding my mandate”. “I will not shy away from my legal and political responsibilities regarding the declaration of martial law”he added.

He explained his coup by his 'despair as president'while Parliament largely dominated by the opposition torpedoed practically all of its initiatives. “I have caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I offer my sincere apologies”he concluded before bowing deeply to the viewers. His very short speech did nothing to calm the general animosity against him.

The head of the PPP, Han Dong-hoon, immediately affirmed that“an early resignation of the president is inevitable”the normal exercise of his functions being, according to him, “impossible in these circumstances”. But at the end of a meeting on the night of Friday to Saturday, a majority of party deputies reaffirmed the official line according to which they would defeat the impeachment, while Mr. Han had requested the “rapid suspension” de M. Yoon.

“It appears that the ruling party has decided to oppose impeachment in the vote on the condition that the president cedes control to it”said Chae Jin-won, a researcher at Humanitas College of Kyung Hee University. “The main problem is that, while recognizing that the president has committed wrongdoing and is a criminal, they simply do not want to give power to Lee Jae-myung”the leader of the Democratic Party, the main opposition force, he added.

“The population will not forgive him”

“Right now, the biggest risk in South Korea is the very existence of the president. The only solutions are immediate resignation (…) or early departure by dismissal”said Lee Jae-myung after the presidential address. This statement “only exacerbates the feeling of betrayal and anger among citizens”he added.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered on Saturday afternoon in front of Parliament to await the outcome of the vote. There were nearly 150,000 when Parliament voted on the impeachment motion, according to the authorities, and a million, according to the organizers.

“The population will not forgive him”assures Lee Wan-pyo, a 63-year-old retiree who watched the president's speech in Seoul's main station. South Korea “must prevent such events from happening again”calls 19-year-old Jeon Yeon-ho.

A pro-Yoon rally is also taking place on Saturday afternoon at Gwanghwamun's central square. Protesters hold up posters “Stop Lee Jae-myung”others wave American flags.

Fearing a new nighttime coup by the president, who had not appeared in public since Wednesday, opposition deputies camped out all night inside the National Assembly. Buses and other vehicles were parked on plazas around the building to prevent possible special forces helicopters from landing.

In his speech on Saturday morning, Mr. Yoon however assured that“there will never be a second martial law”. In addition to the impeachment procedure, Yoon Suk Yeol is the target of a police investigation for “rebellion”, a crime theoretically punishable by the death penalty (which has not been applied in the country since 1997).