Yoon's Fate to be Decided Around 5 PM... National Assembly to Vote on Impeachment Motion Soon

The National Assembly will convene a plenary session on the 14th to vote on the second impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol. The voting is expected to take about 40 to 50 minutes. The results are anticipated to be announced approximately an hour after the voting begins.

The National Assembly opened the plenary session at 4:05 PM and tabled the 'Impeachment Motion Against President Yoon Suk-yeol.' The vote will be conducted anonymously.

On the 12th, six opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, submitted the second impeachment motion to the National Assembly, claiming that 'President Yoon abused his martial law proclamation authority on the 3rd to disrupt the constitutional order by mobilizing armed military and police for an armed rebellion (leader), abandoning his duty to uphold the Constitution, and committing significant unconstitutional and illegal acts in his official duties.'

The first impeachment motion was invalidated due to a lack of quorum when members of the People Power Party collectively abstained from the plenary session on the 7th. As a result, the ballot box was not opened, and the motion was discarded.

On this day, the People Power Party decided to participate in the vote while maintaining its 'opposition to impeachment' party line. Kim Dae-sik, the chief spokesperson, stated during a briefing after the party's general meeting at the National Assembly, "We have just decided two things through a lengthy general meeting. First, the People Power Party will participate in this vote. Second, the party line is to oppose the motion." There is a prevailing expectation that the impeachment motion will pass as some members of the ruling party are expected to cast dissenting votes against the party line.

The impeachment motion will be passed if more than two-thirds of the total members (300) agree. If all 192 opposition members agree and more than eight members from the People Power Party cast affirmative votes, the motion will pass the plenary session. If the impeachment motion is rejected, the opposition plans to propose it again.

If the impeachment motion is passed, President Yoon's authority will be suspended until the Constitutional Court's impeachment trial decision, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will transition to the 'acting president' system.

Shin Hyun-bo, Hankyung.com reporter greaterfool@hankyung.com