The proposal’s defeat is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yun’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a poll suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.
Yun’s declaration of martial law drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yun’s impeachment, apparently for fear of losing the presidency to the liberals.
Yun’s impeachment required the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members.
The opposition parties that tabled the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three PNP MPs took part in the vote.
The motion was canceled without the ballots being counted because the number of votes did not reach 200.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very unfortunate” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy, which was closely watched by the world.
“Failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means that we have not even been able to exercise the democratic procedure of making a decision on a critical national issue,” he said.
Opposition parties may table a new motion for impeachment after the opening of a new parliamentary session next Wednesday.
There are fears that Yun will not be able to see out his remaining two-and-a-half years in office as his leadership has suffered a huge blow. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yun if public demands for it grow further.
If Yun is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, elections to replace him must be held within 60 days.
Wu repeatedly urged members of the ruling party to return to the hall to participate in the vote, waiting several hours for them to come.
At one point, the leaders of the Democratic Party visited a hall on the floor below the main hall where PPP MPs were gathered, trying to persuade them to vote.
After being blocked, they angrily accused the Conservative leadership of preventing lawmakers from voting freely.
Earlier on Saturday, Yun publicly apologized for the martial law decree, saying he would not avoid legal or political responsibility for the declaration and vowing not to make any further attempts to impose martial law. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my tenure in power.”
“Declaring this martial law was done out of my desperation. But in the process of implementing it, it caused public anxiety and inconvenience. I am very sorry for this and sincerely apologize to the people who must have been very shocked,” Yun said.
Since taking office in 2022, Yun has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and has struggled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving him and his wife.
In his martial law announcement on Tuesday evening, Yun called parliament a “den of criminals” mired in state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless followers of North Korea and anti-state forces”.
The turmoil resulting from Yun’s strange and ill-conceived stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and raised alarm among key diplomatic partners such as the United States and Japan.
On Tuesday evening, I saw special forces surrounding the parliament building and army helicopters circling above, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly voted unanimously to repeal the decree, forcing Yun to withdraw it before dawn on Wednesday.
The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen ruling party lawmakers voted to reject Yun’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers.
Yun’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to cut his term rather than accept impeachment as a way to ease public anger over family law and facilitate Yun’s early exit from office.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “very disappointing” and that the only way forward was his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yun’s martial law an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup”.
Passage of the motion to impeach Yun appeared more likely when the chairman of Yun’s party called for his removal on Friday, but the party remained officially opposed to impeachment.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people packed several road blocks leading to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with altered lyrics to call for Yun’s ouster.
Protesters also gathered outside the PPP headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for lawmakers to vote to impeach Yun.
A smaller crowd of Yun’s supporters, who still appeared to be in the thousands, gathered on separate streets in Seoul, denouncing the impeachment attempt, which they saw as unconstitutional.
Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of stock price manipulation surrounding Yun’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yun’s party were seen leaving the chamber after that vote, prompting angry shouts from opposition lawmakers.
On Friday, PPP Chairman Han Dong-hoon, who has criticized Yun’s declaration of martial law, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law, Yun had ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detained unspecified key politicians on charges of “anti-state activity.”
Hong Jang-won, first vice director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence department detain key politicians.
The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-ki, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Defense Ministry said on Friday it had suspended three military commanders, including the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Division, over their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yun imposed martial law. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending that Yun impose martial law.
Kim resigned on Thursday and prosecutors imposed a foreign travel ban on him.