South Korean National Assembly begins vote to impeach President

The impeachment vote against President Yoon Suk-yeol began at 5 p.m. (3 p.m. Hanoi time) with the participation of lawmakers, including the ruling People's Power Party. This is a move that could determine the political future of President Yoon, who caused a backlash with the martial law declaration on the night of December 3.

After lawmakers entered the chamber, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik called for order, as some lawmakers from the ruling Progressive Party and People Power Party (PPP) stood up and booed the impeachment.

"Lieutenant members, the whole country is watching. It is important that we maintain order in this session and Korea is a democracy," Mr. Woo said. Minutes after the National Assembly Speaker's call, the lawmakers stopped booing and the session began.

Vote on two motions

Mr. Woo said two proposals will be put to a vote at the meeting, including a motion to revive a special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

The Democratic Party (DP), the opposition party with a majority in the South Korean National Assembly, passed a bill in January calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that First Lady Kim Keon-hee was involved in stock price manipulation at Deutsche Motors from 2009 to 2012. President Yoon Suk-yeol later vetoed the bill and dismissed the allegations against Ms. Kim.

A motion to reopen the investigation into Ms Kim needs a majority vote to pass.

The South Korean parliament will then vote to impeach the president, on charges of "masterminding treasonous mismanagement of state affairs" when declaring martial law on the night of December 3.

South Korea's constitution allows parliament to propose impeachment of the president or senior officials if it deems them to "unconstitutionalize or violate any law in the course of their duties."

An impeachment motion needs at least 200 votes in favor to pass. Before the vote, the PPP announced that it would oppose impeachment.

Lawmakers vote by writing their choices on a ballot. Ballots without the lawmaker's signature are considered invalid. As lawmakers voted on the motion to reopen a special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee, boos continued to ring out in the parliament, with two lawmakers even nearly getting into a fistfight.

After voting on the first motion, PPP lawmakers left the chamber en masse, despite calls from opposition members to stay. If all PPP lawmakers leave, the impeachment vote cannot take place due to a lack of quorum.

The vote on the first motion lasted about 20 minutes and the votes were being counted by hand. Some PPP lawmakers remained in the chamber, but it was unclear whether the impeachment vote would take place.

According to observers, in the impeachment trial of the President, lawmakers can vote without revealing their identities, so PPP lawmakers could secretly vote against Mr. Yoon. To guard against this scenario, it seems that the PPP leader asked lawmakers to leave the meeting room, so that the vote could not take place.

South Korea's justice minister also left the chamber, breaking tradition that a minister representing the government must be present during the vote. National Assembly Speaker Woo rebuked the government, saying it lacked respect for the public.

Motion to reopen investigation into First Lady fails

At 5:44 p.m. (3:44 p.m. Hanoi time), the first petition vote count was announced, showing that the proposal to reopen a special investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee was not passed because only 198 lawmakers supported it, lower than the required 200. This is the third time this petition has been rejected and it will not be put to a vote again.

Immediately after, Mr. Woo read the impeachment motion against President Yoon, but almost all the PPP lawmakers left, except for MP Ahn Cheol-soo. If these lawmakers do not return, Mr. Yoon will not be impeached.

Opposition calls on PPP MPs to return to parliament

Park Chan-dae, leader of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) in the National Assembly, spoke for about 15 minutes, criticizing President Yoon's decision to declare martial law and calling on PPP lawmakers to return to the meeting room so they can vote to impeach him.

All the remaining lawmakers in the hall, except Ahn Cheol-soo, stood up in unison in response to Mr. Park's call. These images were broadcast live on Korean television as well as on large screens outside the National Assembly building.

After lawmakers walked out en masse, Choo Kyung-ho, leader of the PPP in the National Assembly, announced his resignation.

Impeachment vote begins

At 6:17 p.m. (4:17 p.m. Hanoi time), Mr. Woo announced the start of the vote to impeach the President. However, because the number of lawmakers present in the meeting room was not enough to pass the impeachment proposal, this may only be a symbolic move.

Only two PPP lawmakers are present in the chamber. The opposition needs at least six more PPP lawmakers to return to pass the impeachment motion. There are rumors that some PPP lawmakers will return to vote.