South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Faces Second Impeachment, Opposition Needs At Least Eight Votes From PPP

JAKARTA South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces the second impeachment scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon local time due to his controversial decision to enforce military law earlier this month.

The move not only shocked the public but also divided his party, the People Power Party (PPP), and threatened his term of office which had only been running for half a period.

Yoon withdrew the military law decision he announced on December 3, just six hours after enactment, following opposition-controlled resistance from parliament. However, the policy has sparked a major constitutional crisis in the country, accompanied by widespread demands for Yoon to step down on charges of unlawful violations.

Launching from Reuters on Saturday, December 14, the impeachment vote will be held at 16.00 local time, with a massive demonstration planned ahead of the process.

At last week's first impeachment vote, PPP boycotted the trial, so the quorum was not reached. However, the leader of PPP, Han Dong-hoon, is now encouraging party members to support impeachment. At least seven PPP members have stated that they will choose to impeach Yoon.

To succeed, the opposition requires at least eight votes from PPP. Currently, the opposition controls 192 out of a total of 300 parliamentary seats, while impeachment requires a majority of two-thirds.

Meanwhile, PPP member who supported Ahn Cheol-soo's impeachment stated on Facebook that he chose this step for the sake of quick stabilization of the economy, diplomacy, and people's welfare.

However, the leader of the PPP faction continued to emphasize that the party's official stance was to reject impeachment. PPP members are scheduled to hold a meeting on Saturday morning to decide on changing the party's position.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party, accused Yoon of acting out of bounds. "Refusal impeachment is betrayal of the people," they said in an official statement, urging more PPP members to join in supporting the move.

If impeachment is approved, Yoon will lose his authority but remain in office until the Constitutional Court decides to dismiss him or return him to office. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will take over as interim president.