Key events
Raphael Rashid
The Korean Bar Association backed impeachment on Saturday morning, stating that Yoon’s martial law declaration failed to meet the requirements of the constitution and that he was no longer fit to serve as president.
The influential group, which has 30,000 members, said it would support efforts to investigate Yoon for insurrection charges regardless of the impeachment vote outcome.
Ruling party to vote down impeachment motion against Yoon, Yonhap reports
Yoon’s ruling People Power party (PPP) will vote down the impeachment motion against him, the national news wire Yonhap reports.
The opposition needs eight lawmakers from the PPP to vote in favour of the impeachment to reach the 200 of 300 lawmakers required to impeach the president.
We’ll bring you more details when we have them.
Here are a few pics from the seen of the protests outside parliament:
Members of civil society groups from all around the country have 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 largest umbrella labour unions in the country, was also among the thousands of people protesting outside parliament on Saturday ahead of the impeachment vote, according to news wire Yonhap.
“An apology cannot cover up treason,” it said in a statement and called for the “immediate impeachment and arrest” of Yoon.
Yonhap also reported that a man in his 50s was detained by police after trying to set himself on fire in protest of Yoon’s martial law declaration, according to officials.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the political crisis in South Korea, where lawmakers are preparing to vote on a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his failed attempt to impose martial law earlier this week.
Yoon addressed the nation for the first time since rescinding the order on Wednesday, just six hours after imposing it, apologising for his actions and promising not to attempt it a second time.
He said he would accept the legal and political consequences and bowed to the nation during the address, however he did not resign and it remains unclear whether the opposition has enough votes to impeach him.
That would require support from 200 of the National Assembly’s 300 members but the opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion only have 192 seats combined meaning they need at least eight votes from Yoon’s ruling People Power party (PPP).
PPP leader Han Dong-hun has called the president a danger to the country. However, he is not a lawmaker and cannot vote, and the PPP decided to oppose impeachment at a lawmakers’ meeting on Thursday.
Thousands of people rallied in Yeouido, where the national assembly is located ahead of the vote, calling for Yoon to go, the national news wire Yonhap reported.
Yoon’s attempt on Tuesday to impose South Korea’s first state of martial law in over four decades plunged the country into the deepest turmoil in its modern democratic history and caught its close allies around the world off guard.
Here’s what else you need to know:
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Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic party, dismissed Yoon’s apology as “very disappointing” and said it had only increased public anger and betrayal. “The president’s very existence is the biggest risk to South Korea right now,” Lee said, maintaining that there was “no other solution” than his immediate resignation or removal through impeachment.
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PPP leader Han said after the address that the president’s early resignation was unavoidable and that he was no longer in a position to fulfil his duty. Han also said he would meet with prime minister Han Duck-soo ahead of the vote.
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The national news agency Yonhap said the PPP may be looking at ways to amend the constitution to allow Yoon to make a more orderly exit, rather than being impeached. If he is removed from office, Yoon would become only the second president of South Korea since it became a democracy to have met that fate. The other was Park Geun-hye, who was removed in 2017. Ironically, Yoon, the then prosecutor general, led the corruption case that precipitated Park’s downfall.
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Parliament is also expected to vote on a fourth attempt to establish a special counsel to investigate Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, right before the impeachment motion. The strategy appears designed to ensure ruling party lawmakers attend both votes, rather than boycotting the crucial impeachment decision through absence.
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On Friday, Han said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law, Yoon ordered the country’s defence counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities”. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee Jae-myung and the National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, according to a lawmaker who attended a briefing with the first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.