South Korean Parliament Falls Short of 8 Votes to Impeach President Yeol: Know How the Process Works

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is being probed by the country’s police for “insurrection” following the revocation of the emergency martial law on Wednesday. The move came after South Korea’s prosecutor general issued an order to investigate the president and other significant officials, including the former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun and martial law commander Park An-su, for alleged insurrection over the martial law declaration. The defence minister of South Korea has already resigned on Thursday amid alleged treason charges against him. 

The President has been under the radar ever since he had imposed the law on Tuesday night. The country has witnessed nationwide protests and the Democratic Party-led opposition in the South Korean Parliament Assembly is demanding impeachment of the president. On Wednesday, the opposition has moved a bill to impeach the President and the voting on the same is likely to take place on Saturday. 

“The president gravely and extensively violated the constitution and the law,” the bill stated, according to AFP. 

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As uncertainty looms over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s tenure due to high chances of him getting impeached, as the opposition is just short of eight votes. Here’s how the process of impeachment works in South Korea. 

Impeachment Process in South Korea 

Impeachment is the formal process of removing a sitting President. According to South Korea’s constitution, it requires a two-thirds majority to impeach the president. To impeach the President the bill needs to be voted on by 200 out of 300 members of the parliament. Currently, the main opposition and smaller parties have 192 seats and require just eight from the ruling PPP party to vote on it. When the president declared the martial law, the move was not well received by some of Yeol’s own party members, but whether they would vote in favour of his impeachment is a mystery that will unfold on Saturday this week. 

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If the bill gets the required votes, it will be moved to South Korea’s constitutional court. The court then will decide whether the President will be impeached or not. Six out of the total nine constitutional court members need to agree to impeach the President.