National Assembly Holds Plenary Session, Voting Starts at 4 PM
Key-Holding People Power Party Holds Lawmakers' Meeting at 10 AM
The second impeachment vote against President Yoon Suk-yeol will take place.
The second impeachment vote against President Yoon, who became a suspect of insurrection charges after declaring martial law and deploying the military to the National Assembly and the Central Election Commission, will be held at 4 p.m. on the 14th in the National Assembly plenary session hall.
Previously, on the 7th, the impeachment motion against President Yoon failed to proceed due to the absence of ruling party lawmakers. Despite Speaker Woo Won-shik and opposition lawmakers waiting for a long time, only three ruling party voters participated, with a total of 195 members voting. Among the 108 People Power Party lawmakers, 105 abstained from voting.
This time, some ruling party lawmakers have declared their support for impeachment, making the situation different from the first vote. The People Power Party is also expected to participate in the vote instead of abstaining.
President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering a live national address at 10 a.m. on the 7th, ahead of the impeachment vote related to the declaration of martial law. President Yoon apologized to the public for the martial law situation and stated that he would entrust his term and political stability measures to the party. (TV filming) Photo by Jo Yong-jun
According to the Constitution, a presidential impeachment requires the approval of two-thirds of the total members, which currently means at least 200 votes. The opposition, prioritizing the passage of the impeachment motion, secured 192 seats including independents after the proportional succession process replaced former lawmaker Cho Kuk, who was sentenced to imprisonment, with Baek Seon-hee of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party. Additionally, seven ruling party lawmakers have explicitly or implicitly expressed their intention to support impeachment. Along with People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon's call for party-line support, although some lawmakers have not publicly disclosed their stance, many are understood to agree on the necessity of impeachment while reconsidering the timing, increasing the likelihood of the motion passing this time.
Before the vote, the People Power Party will hold a party meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss the party's stance on the impeachment motion again. On the previous afternoon, People Power Party leader Kwon Seong-dong held a press briefing and said, “The party's stance on the impeachment vote will be decided tomorrow (the 14th) at the party meeting with 108 lawmakers. For now, the party line is opposition to impeachment. We will carefully decide after discussing with the lawmakers.”
Unlike last time, the possibility of passage has increased, but no one can be certain about the impeachment outcome. The vote will be conducted by secret ballot, so only the participants know the results, and the ruling party’s response strategy still needs to be observed.
This impeachment motion was directly triggered by President Yoon’s declaration of martial law on the 3rd. At that time, the martial law forces not only attempted to block the vote itself by deploying the military and police to the National Assembly, which constitutionally can demand the lifting of martial law, but also tried to arrest key politicians, according to testimonies. Furthermore, they occupied the Central Election Commission and attempted to arrest sitting judges and other legal professionals, as revealed by related evidence.
The impeachment motion includes charges of ① violating requirements and procedures by declaring martial law and invading the National Assembly and Central Election Commission with military and police forces, ② attempting illegal arrests of lawmakers, politicians, and journalists, and ③ offenses including insurrection and abuse of power under criminal law, as well as damaging and infringing upon essential constitutional principles such as popular sovereignty, representative democracy, and separation of powers.
On the 7th, during the plenary session of the National Assembly, opposition party members are calling out the names of People Power Party lawmakers one by one who left the chamber to abstain from voting on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. Ahn Cheol-soo is sitting alone in the People Power Party seats. Photo by Kim Hyun-min
The opposition plans to convene the plenary session again for impeachment proceedings if the motion is rejected this time. They have already taken steps to convene an extraordinary session in preparation. However, due to national turmoil caused by the impeachment crisis, deterioration of external credibility, and decreased predictability, voices inside and outside the political sphere are calling for the impeachment motion to be concluded this time.
If the impeachment motion passes, President Yoon’s authority will be suspended, and the Constitutional Court will begin impeachment proceedings for up to 180 days. In the cases of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Roh Moo-hyun, the Constitutional Court took 91 days and 63 days respectively to reach a decision. Depending on the ruling, the president may return to office like former President Roh or be removed from office like former President Park. If the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment, a presidential election must be held within 60 days to elect a new president. Considering the Constitutional Court’s schedule, the political sphere anticipates the presidential election to be held between April and June next year.
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