Effort to impeach South Korean president fails after ruling party walkout

Opposition leaders hoping to oust South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief declaration of martial law hit a roadblock Saturday, after members of the ruling party left the room, preventing parliament from reaching the threshold to impeach the president.

The ruling party's boycott of the vote Saturday made reaching 200 votes nearly impossible. Another attempt could be filed next week, at the start of the next session, The Associated Press (AP) reported. 

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik decried the result as embarrassing and "very regrettable," according to the AP.

“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,” he said.

Yoon’s decision to declare martial law earlier this week caused an uproar among the nation's parliament, and protests have erupted on the streets since.

While he received some blowback from his party’s members, they were reluctant to support the impeachment effort, concerned about losing the presidency to the opposition party.

In order to successfully impeach the president, lawmakers in the parliament needed two-thirds support, 200 out of 300 members, for the vote. The coalition of opposition parties has 192 seats in total, meaning they needed just eight members of Yoon’s People Power Party to tip the scale.

Had lawmakers succeeded in impeaching Yoon, his powers would have been sapped. Then the Constitutional Court would vote to determine if the president should be kicked out of the post and an election within 60 days would follow. 

Before attempting to declare martial law, Yoon described the legislature as a “den for criminals” who were “attempting to overthrow” the nation’s democracy. 

The parliament blocked his motion on Wednesday, an effort for which the president ended up apologizing on Saturday. 

“I am very sorry and sincerely apologize to the people who may have been surprised,” Yoon said. “I will not shirk the issue of legal and political responsibility in connection with the declaration of martial law.”

He has vowed not to declare martial law again.

Steff Danielle Thomas and The Associated Press contributed reporting.