South Korea’s opposition has submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Seok-yul

South Korean opposition lawmakers have begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Seok-yul over a failed attempt to impose martial law.

The country awoke to an uncertain reality on Wednesday after a night of extraordinary scenes in which Yun unexpectedly imposed martial law, 190 lawmakers gathered to reject him, and the sudden verdict. changed About six hours later.

After introductions In an impeachment motion, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party condemned Yoon’s initial declaration of martial law as “rebellious behavior.”

Parliament will have to vote. Whether or not to impeach Yoon by Saturday.

“We can no longer allow democracy to collapse,” said Kim Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party’s Central Committee. People’s lives and safety should be protected.

The party also said it wanted to charge Yun with “sedition crimes.”

He named Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min as “key participants” in the declaration of martial law., Saying that he wants to indict them along with Yoon.

But South Korea’s ruling People’s Power Party, of which Yoon is a member, has agreed to oppose his impeachment, according to the country’s Yonhap news agency.

The opposition needs the support of at least eight of the ruling party’s 108 lawmakers to pass the bill.

None of the ruling party lawmakers were present to move the motion in the National Assembly in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Seoul had schools, banks and government offices. Working normally. On Wednesday, however, protests continued across the city calling for the president’s resignation.

“Arrest Yoon Suk-yul,” some angry citizens chanted as they took to the streets.

South Korea’s largest labor group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has vowed to go on an indefinite strike until the president resigns.

On Wednesday, the country’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun tendered his resignation and said he would take full responsibility for martial law. The ministry said in a statement that it apologized to the public for causing confusion and inconvenience.

Yoon’s senior aides, including Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and National Security Adviser Shin Won-suk. Submitted their resignations.

Whether or not their resignations will be accepted by Yun. is unclear.

The shock order reversal early on Wednesday came after dramatic scenes overnight.

Hundreds of soldiers stormed parliament after Yun declared martial law, as military helicopters circled the site.

Some opposition lawmakers broke barriers and climbed over fences to enter the voting chamber. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik told BBC Korea that he came to parliament thinking “we must protect democracy” and shortened the fence.

After all, 190 legislators fled the police lines and forced themselves inside to defy the order.

Thousands of protesters too Arrived at the gate of the National Assembly. A woman was caught on video grabbing a soldier’s gun..

“I was scared at first… but seeing this kind of confrontation, I thought, ‘I can’t stay silent,'” Democratic Party spokesman Ahn Gew-ryong told the BBC.

Yun’s second announcement – that he was reversing his earlier order – was met with cheers from protesters outside parliament.

Yoon, who won office by the narrowest margin in Korean history and whose approval ratings have hit record lows, said he declared martial law because he wanted North Korean communist forces to take power in the country. Worried about handling.

The presidential office has defended the initial decision as “strictly in”. [the country’s] It said on Wednesday that the announcement was timed to “minimize damage” to the economy and people’s lives.

South Korea’s allies have expressed alarm over the incidents, with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell expressing “grave concern”.

US and NATO chief Mark Rutte welcomed Wednesday’s cancellation order. Rutte said he was committed to the rule of law and reaffirmed the alliance’s “iron-clad” relationship with South Korea.

Once an impeachment bill is introduced, two-thirds of South Korea’s 300-member National Assembly must vote in favor of impeachment — which means at least 200 votes. Voting must be done within 72 hours.

After the impeachment is approved, the president will be immediately suspended from office, while the prime minister will become the acting president.

The case will then be tried before the Constitutional Court, a nine-member council that oversees all branches of South Korea’s government. This process can take up to 180 days.

If six members of the court vote to uphold the impeachment, the president will be removed from office.

In 2016, then-President Park Geun-hye was impeached following allegations of bribery, abuse of state power and leaking state secrets.

In 2004, another South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, was impeached and suspended for two months. The Constitutional Court later reinstated him.

If Yun resigns or is impeached, the government must hold elections within 60 days so the country can vote for a new leader, who will begin a new five-year term.

Under the South Korean constitution, the president has the power to declare martial law during times of war, armed conflict or other national emergencies.

The country last declared martial law in 1979, when the country’s longtime military dictator Park Chung-hee was assassinated in a coup.

A group of military leaders, led by General Chun Do-hoon, declared martial law in 1980, banning political activity and arresting dissidents.

Hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown on protesters before martial law was lifted in 1981.

Martial law has not been imposed since South Korea became a parliamentary democracy in 1987.

Yon Tuesday, saying he was trying to protect the country from “anti-state forces”..

But some analysts have described the move as an attempt to thwart political opposition.

Yun has been a lame-duck president since winning the country’s general election in April this year with an overwhelming majority from the opposition – his government has been unable to pass the laws he wants and instead vetoes bills proposed by the opposition. It has been reduced.

The president’s approval rating has hit a record low of 17 percent this year, as he and his wife, Kim Kwon-hee. Surrounded by scandals.

Additional reporting by Wongbi Lee in Seoul and Frances Mao and Mallory Moench in London