Currently, 7 People Power Party Members Express Support
192 Opposition Members... Approval Expected if 200 Members Support
The six opposition parties (야 6당) on the 12th proposed a second impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. All 191 members from the six opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, the Party for Innovation and Change, the Reform Party, the Progressive Party, the Basic Income Party, and the Social Democratic Party, participated in the motion.
The impeachment motion must be voted on within 72 hours after 24 hours have passed since it was reported to the plenary session. They plan to vote on the impeachment motion at the plenary session at 5 p.m. on the 14th, after it is reported to the plenary session on the 13th.
The impeachment motion proposed on this day includes, as with the first impeachment motion, the main grounds for impeachment that President Yoon violated the Constitution and laws by declaring emergency martial law on the 3rd without meeting the necessary conditions, thereby violating the principles of popular sovereignty and separation of powers.
The representatives of the six opposition parties submitted the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol at the National Assembly's Legislative Affairs Office on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
Presidential impeachment requires a proposal by a majority of the total members of the National Assembly and approval by two-thirds or more of the total members. On this day, former leader of the Party for Innovation and Change, Jo Guk, was sentenced to two years in prison for forgery of private documents and lost his seat, leaving the current total number of National Assembly members at 299. Jo’s seat is expected to be succeeded by Baek Seon-hee, the party’s Special Committee on Welfare State chairperson and number 13 on the proportional representation list for the general election, which will bring the total number of National Assembly members back to 300 on the 13th.
The opposition bloc holds a total of 192 seats, including the independent Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-shik and member Kim Jong-min. For the impeachment motion to pass, support from eight members of the People Power Party is needed. Currently, seven members of the People Power Party?Cho Kyung-tae, Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Sang-wook, Kim Ye-ji, Kim Jae-seop, Jin Jong-oh, and Han Ji-a?have expressed support. If just one more member from the ruling party votes in favor, the motion can be passed.
The first impeachment motion against President Yoon, proposed by the opposition on the 4th, was put to a vote in the National Assembly plenary session on the 7th but was discarded due to a lack of quorum as most People Power Party members abstained from voting.
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