Thousands took to the streets of South Korea’s capital Saturday in rival rallies for and against President Yoon Suk Yeol, hours ahead of an impeachment vote over his failed martial law bid.
Protests demanding Yoon step down kicked off around midday outside the National Assembly, which will vote at 4:00 pm (0700 GMT) on an impeachment resolution — a week after a first attempt to remove Yoon for the martial law debacle failed.
A Seoul police official told AFP they expected at least 200,000 people to demonstrate in support of removing him.
“If Yoon isn’t impeached today, I’ll return next week,” said protester Yoo Hee-jin, 24.
“I’ll keep coming every week until it happens.”
On the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun square, thousands more rallied in support of Yoon, blasting patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags.
“Yoon had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of every decision he has made as president,” supporter Choi Hee-sun, 62, told AFP.
The South Korean president has vowed to fight on and doubled down on unsubstantiated claims the opposition is in league with the country’s communist foes.
Two hundred votes are needed for the impeachment to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight parliamentarians from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides. Seven have pledged to do so.
– ‘Defend democracy’ –
Local media has reported that many lawmakers are still making up their minds.
The main opposition Democratic Party on Saturday said a vote for impeachment was the “only way” to “safeguard the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy and South Korea’s future”.
“We can no longer endure Yoon’s madness,” spokeswoman Hwang Jung-a said.
At the rally outside parliament supporting impeachment, volunteers gave out free hand warmers to fight the sub-zero temperatures, as well as coffee and food.
K-pop singer Yuri of the band Girl’s Generation — whose song “Into the New World” has become a protest anthem — said she had pre-paid for food for fans attending the demonstration.
“Stay safe and take care of your health!” she said on a superfan chat platform.
One protester said she had rented a bus so parents at the rally would have a place to change diapers and feed their babies.
Another said they had initially planned to spend their Saturday hiking.
“But I came here instead to support my fellow citizens,” Kim Deuk-yun, 58, told AFP.
– Insurrection claims –
Should his impeachment be approved, Yoon would be suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would step in as the interim president.
The court would then have 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
If it backs his removal, Yoon would become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.
But there is also precedent for the court to block impeachment. In 2004, then-president Roh Moo-hyun was removed by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but the Constitutional Court later reinstated him.
The court currently only has six judges, meaning their decision must be unanimous.
And should the vote fail, Yoon could still face “legal responsibility” for the martial law bid, Kim Hyun-jung, a researcher at the Korea University Institute of Law, told AFP.
“This is clearly an act of insurrection,” she said.
“Even if the impeachment motion does not pass, the president’s legal responsibilities under the Criminal Code… cannot be avoided.”
Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant as the fallout from his disastrous martial law declaration has deepened and an investigation into his inner circle has widened.
His approval rating — never very high — has plummeted to 11 percent, according to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday.
The same poll showed that 75 percent now support his impeachment.
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