South Korea’s Yoon Dodges Impeachment as Protests Grow, Party Pushes for Exit Plan

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol sidestepped impeachment on Saturday after a failed martial law bid, but massive protests and calls for his resignation have left his political future hanging by a thread, with his party hinting at an exit plan.

Yoon Faces Political Turmoil After Avoiding Impeachment

The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, narrowly avoided impeachment on Saturday following his failed attempt to declare martial law earlier in the week. However, the head of his own party has already predicted that Yoon will resign from office, Reuters reports.

Not enough lawmakers participated in the impeachment vote, which led to its scrapping. Yoon's People Power Party boycotted the move.

But PPP leader Han Dong-hoon announced Yoon's resignation after the vote.

"The declaration of martial law was a clear and serious violation of the law," Han informed the media.

It was unclear if Han was representing all PPP members, and he has a history of conflicts with Yoon. Yoon has not yet commented on Han's remarks.

Late on Tuesday, Yoon stunned the country by granting the military broad emergency powers to oust "anti-state forces" and vanquish political opponents who were being obstructionist.

Parliament broke through military and police cordons to vote overwhelmingly against the decree, which led him to withdraw the order six hours later.

Martial Law Controversy Sparks National Crisis

South Korea is a major U.S. military ally and the fourth-largest economy in Asia. However, the country's image as a model of democracy was jeopardized when Yoon declared martial law, causing it to experience its worst political crisis in decades.

In a nationally broadcast apology earlier on Saturday, Yoon said he would deal with the fallout from the decision, but he did not propose to step down.

According to Han, Yoon's statement about putting his fate in the hands of the PPP was essentially a commitment to step down from office early.

"The People Power Party will pursue an orderly departure of the president in order to minimize confusion for the people," Han stated, adding that until Yoon departs, he would end up "effectively excluded from his duties, and the prime minister will consult with the party to manage state affairs."

Opposition Rejects Party-Led Exit Plan

A group opposed to the DP mocked the proposal, calling it "absurd and illegal."

According to the party's statement, "Neither the people, nor the law, nor anyone has given Han the power to remove (Yoon) from office." They further stated that impeachment is the sole option.

A source close to Han stated that it is too early to say when Han will unveil a plan for early termination of Yoon's tenure.

To achieve the two-thirds majority necessary for impeachment, the opposition required eight votes from Yoon's PPP. Some individuals yelled and swore at PPP lawmakers as they left the room after voting on an unrelated motion. Just three of Yoon's party legislators cast ballots.

Public Discontent Fuels Massive Protests

Per Investing.com, in 2016, his party's then-president, Park Geun-hye, was removed from power following months of rallies accompanied by candlelight, due to an influence-peddling scandal. The current president cannot be impeached, his party declared. Liberals won the presidency and the general election after her demise caused the party to collapse.

After the unsuccessful vote, PPP spokesman Shin Dong-uk stated, "We cannot repeat the tragedy of paralysis of state affairs and suspension of constitutional government through the impeachment of the president." He added that Yoon had apologized and promised to leave his future with the party.

Tens of thousands of protesters, armed with candles and lights, thronged the streets outside parliament on Friday and Saturday nights, calling for Yoon's impeachment in images reminiscent of the Park rallies.

A Thursday opinion poll by Real Meter found that 73.6% of people were in favor of impeaching Yoon, while 24% were against it.

Yoon’s Resignation Could Trigger Early Election

At the possibility that the impeachment motion would fail, 60-year-old protester Choi Yong-Ho expressed his wrath but vowed to continue attending future demonstrations.

"We have to make our voices heard," he proclaimed.

After rescinding the martial law order, Yoon made his first public appearance on Saturday with a televised speech.

He stated, "I leave it up to my party to take steps to stabilize the political situation in the future, including the issue of my term in office," and he vowed that there would be no second attempt to impose martial law.

Following the speech, Han stated that the president could no longer fulfill his official duties and that his resignation was, therefore, inevitable.

Yoon is under even more pressure to step down from his position after Han warned on Friday that Yoon posed a threat to the nation and should be removed from power.

But in the end, nearly every single PPP member chose not to cast a ballot. Additionally, one member who took part in the proceedings stated that he had voted against the impeachment, even though he did not think Yoon was qualified for the position.

According to the constitution, a presidential election must be held no later than sixty days after Yoon's departure from office if his single five-year term does not finish in May 2027.

South Korea has proclaimed martial law on twelve occasions since its establishment as a republic in 1948, with the most recent being in 1980.

The military was granted extensive emergency powers by Yoon in Tuesday's proclamation to deal with "North Korean communist forces" and "to eradicate the shameless pro-North anti-state forces," the nature of which were not described.

In addition, he claimed that the National Assembly had launched an unprecedented amount of impeachment attempts against his administration officials, which had paralyzed crucial operations and compromised public safety and other essential government responsibilities due to their handling of the budget.