By Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee and Cynthia Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday prompted by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law this week, but the leader of his own party said the president would eventually step down.
Yoon’s People Power Party boycotted the impeachment vote, put forward by the main opposition Democratic Party, and the motion was scrapped after not enough lawmakers participated.
After the vote, however, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said the party had decided that Yoon would resign.
“The declaration of martial law was a clear and serious violation of the law,” Han told reporters.
Han has a history of clashes with Yoon, however, and it was unclear if he was speaking for all PPP members. There was no word yet from Yoon on Han’s comments.
Yoon shocked the nation late on Tuesday when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and overcome obstructionist political opponents.
He rescinded the order six hours later, after parliament defied military and police cordons to vote unanimously against the decree.
But Yoon’s martial law declaration plunged South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. military ally, into its greatest political crisis in decades, threatening to shatter the country’s reputation as a democratic success story.
Earlier on Saturday Yoon addressed the nation in a televised speech to apologise for the move, and to say he would face whatever repercussions there would be, though he did not offer to resign.
Yoon said he would put his fate in the hands of the PPP, which Han said later was effectively a promise to leave office early.
“The People Power Party will pursue an orderly departure of the president in order to minimize confusion for the people,” Han said, adding that until Yoon leaves, he would be “effectively excluded from his duties, and the prime minister will consult with the party to manage state affairs.”
The DP opposition ridiculed that idea as “absurd and illegal.”
“Neither the people, nor the law, nor anyone has given Han the power to remove (Yoon) from office,” the party said in a statement, saying impeachment is the only way.
Asked when Han will announce a roadmap for ending Yoon’s term early, a source close to Han said it was too early to say.
IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS
The opposition needed at least eight votes from Yoon’s PPP to reach the two-thirds majority needed to impeach. As PPP lawmakers departed after casting votes on a separate motion, some people shouted and cursed them. Only three lawmakers from Yoon’s party voted.
His party said it could not allow a repeat of the 2016 impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye, who left office after months of candle-lit protests over an influence-peddling scandal. Her downfall triggered the implosion of the party and a victory by liberals in presidential and general elections.
“We cannot repeat the tragedy of paralysis of state affairs and suspension of constitutional government through the impeachment of the president,” PPP spokesperson Shin Dong-uk said after the failed vote, noting that Yoon had apologised and had vowed to leave his future up to the party.
In scenes reminiscent of the protests against Park, tens of thousands of demonstrators holding candles and lights flooded the streets outside parliament on Friday and Saturday nights, demanding Yoon’s impeachment.
According to an opinion poll released by polling firm Real Meter on Thursday, 73.6% of respondents favoured impeaching Yoon, while 24% opposed impeachment.
Protester Choi Yong-Ho, 60, said he was furious at the prospect that the impeachment motion would not succeed, but vowed to keep coming to future protests.
“We have to make our voices heard,” he said.
YOON ‘VERY SORRY’
Saturday’s televised address was Yoon’s first public appearance since he rescinded the martial law order.
“I leave it up to my party to take steps to stabilise the political situation in the future, including the issue of my term in office,” he said, promising there would be no second attempt to impose martial law.
Han said after the address that the president was no longer in a position to carry out his public duties and his resignation was now unavoidable.
Han said on Friday that Yoon was a danger to the country and needed to be removed from power, increasing the pressure on Yoon to quit.
In the end, however, almost all PPP members boycotted the vote. And one member who participated said he had voted against impeachment, though he said he did not believe Yoon was suitable for the office.
If Yoon leaves office before his single five-year term ends in May 2027, the constitution requires a presidential election within 60 days of his departure.
Martial law has been declared more than a dozen times since South Korea was established as a republic in 1948, the last time in 1980.
In Tuesday’s declaration, Yoon gave the military sweeping emergency powers to combat unspecified threats from “North Korean communist forces” and “to eradicate the shameless pro-North anti-state forces”.
He also accused the National Assembly of launching an unprecedented number of impeachment efforts against members of his administration, effectively paralysing key operations, and of handling the budget in a way that undermined the fundamental functions of the government, including public safety.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim, Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee, Eduardo Baptista, Jack Kim, Josh Smith, and Hyunsu Yim; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Michael Perry, William Mallard and Frances Kerry)
