Defeat of the proposal is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.
Yoon’s declaration of emergency drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to the liberals.
The impeachment of Yoon required the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 out of 300 members.
The opposition parties that submitted the impeachment request had 192 seats, but only three MPs from the PPP participated in the vote.
The proposal was rejected without counting the votes because the number of votes did not reach 200.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for democracy in a country with the world watching intently.
“The failure to hold a qualified vote on this issue means that we have not even been able to implement a democratic decision-making procedure on a critical national issue,” he said.
Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment request after the opening of the new parliamentary session next Wednesday.
There are concerns that Yoon will not be able to serve out the remaining two and a half years in office as his leadership has suffered a major blow. Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers may eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands continue to grow.
If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must be held within 60 days.
Woo repeatedly called members of the ruling party to return to the hall to take part in the vote, waiting several hours for them to come.
At one point, leaders of the Democratic Party visited the hall on the floor below the main hall where PPP MPs were gathered, trying to convince them to vote.
After being denied entry, they angrily accused the Conservative leadership of preventing their MPs from voting freely.
Earlier on Saturday, Yoon publicly apologized for the martial law decree, saying he would not shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and vowing not to try to impose martial law again. 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 office.”
“The declaration of this state of emergency was made out of my desperation. But during its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I am very sorry for that and sincerely apologize to the people who must have been very shocked,” said Yoon.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through the opposition-controlled parliament and has struggled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving him and his wife.
In his announcement of martial law on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” who are hijacking state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korean followers and anti-state forces”.
The turmoil caused by Yoon’s bizarre and ill-conceived stunt paralyzed South Korean politics and caused alarm among key diplomatic partners such as the US and Japan.
Tuesday night saw special forces surrounding the parliament building and military helicopters flying over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly voted unanimously to overturn the ordinance, forcing Yoon to lift it before dawn on Wednesday.
The declaration of a state of emergency was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s state of emergency decree along with opposition lawmakers.
Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for constitutional amendments to shorten his term, rather than accept impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marriage law and facilitate Yoon’s early departure from office.
Lee Jae-myung, 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 Yoon’s martial law an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup”.
Passage of Yoon’s impeachment request seemed more likely when the chairman of Yoon’s party called for his removal on Friday, but the party formally opposed the impeachment.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people packed several blocks of roads leading to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs whose lyrics were changed to call for Yoon’s ouster.
Protesters also gathered outside the PPP headquarters near the Assembly, furiously shouting at their MPs to vote for Yoon’s impeachment.
A smaller group of Yoon’s supporters, who still seemed to number in the thousands, gathered in separate streets in Seoul, denouncing the impeachment attempt, which they saw as unconstitutional.
Lawmakers first voted on Saturday on a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of stock price manipulation involving Yoon’s wife. Some lawmakers from Yoon’s party were seen leaving the chamber after the vote, prompting angry shouts from opposition lawmakers.
On Friday, PPP chairman Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s declaration of martial law, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law, Yoon had ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence chief to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians on charges for “anti-state activities.”
Hong Jang-won, first deputy 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 unit detain key politicians.
The targeted politicians were Han, Lee and Woo, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Ministry of Defense said on Friday that it had suspended three military commanders, including the head of the Defense Counterintelligence Unit, for their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Deputy Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending Yoon to implement martial law.
Kim resigned on Thursday and prosecutors imposed a foreign travel ban on him.