Yoon Suk Yeol: Opposition coalition members submit motion of impeachment against South Korea President

A day after South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law and later lifted it, opposition coalition members, on Wednesday, submitted a motion to impeach him.

The President’s sudden imposition of the marital law had forced thousands of people to the streets, who protested against the move.

The main opposition, Democratic Party, and five other minor opposition parties, including the Rebuilding Korea Party and Reform Party, submitted the motion to the office of the bill at the National Assembly at 2:43 p.m, local Yonhap news agency reported.

The motion was reportedly signed by 190 opposition lawmakers and one independent lawmaker.

However, no ruling party lawmaker signed it.

The impeachment motion will need a two-thirds majority to pass.

Of the 300-member National Assembly, the opposition will need eight votes from the ruling People Power Party to pass the bill, reported Yonhap.

Joon Hyung Kim, a member of the National Assembly for the Rebuilding Korea party, told BBC that the president is “the biggest risk in Korea right now”.

South Korea’s night of political turmoil

In a surprise move, President Yoon Suk Yeol had imposed the martial law late at night after accusing the opposition of “anti-state activities”.

Last week, opposition MPs approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.

The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won (USD 2.8 billion) from Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won budget plan, cutting the government’s reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon’s office, the prosecution, police, and the state audit agency, Yonhap reported.

The imposition of emergency martial law came as Yoon’s approval rating dropped to 19 percent in the latest Gallup poll last week, with many expressing dissatisfaction over his handling of the economy and controversies involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.