South Korea’s President Survives Impeachment Vote As Protests Erupt 

Days after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a brief state of emergency martial law (probably the shortest on record), an opposition party’s attempt to impeach him failed when most lawmakers from his conservative ruling party boycotted the vote. 

The Democratic Party’s move to impeach Yoon was thwarted on Saturday by the president’s People Power Party, which announced shortly before the assembly session that it had decided to oppose the bill.

Impeaching the president requires a two-thirds majority in the 300-member assembly – or about 200 votes. However, the opposition party fell short of the threshold, as members of the president’s party largely abstained from voting. 

AP News cited National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, who called the failed impeachment vote “very regrettable” and a national “embarrassment.” 

“The failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means we were not even able to exercise the democratic procedure of deciding on a critical national issue,” the speaker said.

Earlier in the day, Yoon apologized to the South Korean people for the emergency martial law, admitting he acted out of ‘desperation.’ He made no mention of resigning or impeachment, stating that he would leave that decision to his party. 

Opposition parties could push through a new impeachment motion after the new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday. 

“There are worries that Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 ½ years in office because his leadership took a huge hit,” AP noted, adding, “Many experts say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further.” 

Protests gathered outside the National Assembly building shortly after the motion to impeach Yoon failed.

Angry #SouthKorean citizens protesting after the National Assembly failed to impeach President Yoon tonight. pic.twitter.com/cwEAPYmXpj

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) December 7, 2024

“Tens of thousands of protesters massed outside South Korea’s National,” NYTimes wrote in a running blog. 

JUST IN – Massive crowd gathers before the National Assembly plenary session to vote on South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment motion pic.twitter.com/IF7SFXR3kj

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) December 7, 2024

NYTimes pointed out, “The crowd outside the National Assembly has grown so large that Seoul’s subway operator has closed two nearby stations.”

Thousands await outside the National Assembly. It’s almost zero degrees. Impeachment vote to take place shortly. pic.twitter.com/JsLUJcCQnw

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) December 7, 2024

In markets, the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) was up 1.3% on the week, Ishares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) fell 4.3%. 

Meanwhile, Graham Ambrose, managing director of Goldman Sachs’ equity franchise sales team in London, told clients late Tuesday that there could be “buying opportunities in Seoul in coming days.”