A Motion for Impeachment

On December 14, South Korea’s National Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Suk Yeol Yoon. All 300 lawmakers were present for the December 14 vote, with 204 in favor and 85 opposed — surpassing the two-thirds threshold required for impeachment. The vote followed an earlier attempt on December 7 that failed to reach a quorum.

The Constitution outlines an impeachment process as follows:

The National Assembly may initiate impeachment proceedings against public officials, including the President, who have violated the Constitution or other laws in the performance of their official duties (Article 65 (1)).
A motion for presidential impeachment shall be proposed by a majority of all members of the National Assembly and approved by at least two thirds of the total membership (Article 65 (2)).
Upon the passage of an impeachment motion, the official in question shall be suspended from exercising her power until the impeachment has been adjudicated (Article 65 (3)).
The Constitution Court holds the authority to adjudicate all impeachment cases (Article 111 (1)).

The National Assembly consists of 300 members, requiring at least 200 votes to pass a motion for presidential impeachment. The ruling party, People Power Party (PPP), was minority, holding only 108 seats.

Although the nubmer is just over one-third of the Assembly, it was still enough to block impeachment. Even with full support from all opposition parties, reaching the two-thirds threshold would have required defections from the ruling party.

The first attempt was rejected on December 7, due to a lack of quorum. The ruling party organized a boycott to suppress potential defections, with all but one of its members — Cheol-soo Ahn (Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si) — leaving the chamber before the vote. During the voting, two additional lawmakers — Yea-ji Kim (proportional representation) and Sang-wook Kim (Nam-gu, Ulsan-si) — from the ruling party appeared and cast their votes. Nevertheless, only 195 members participated, falling short of the quorum required, and the motion was nullified.

Special forces storming the National Assembly — Kyunghyang on its front page featured the mugshots of lawmakers who boycotted the first vote.

The Democratic Party, the main opposition party, stated to continue reintroducing the impeachment motion until it passed. Meanwhile, the People Power Party, the ruling party, found it increasingly difficult to sustain its boycott strategy.

Initially, the ruling party had pushed for President Yoon’s voluntary resignation rather than impeachment. However, Yoon defended his declaration of martial law and made clear he had no intention of stepping down. Tensions escalated further as new testimony alleged that President Yoon had ordered martial law forces to blockade the National Assembly and detain lawmakers — actions that could be interpreted as insurrectionary.

Internal fractures also began to appear within the ruling party. Lawmakers from swing districts started voicing support for impeachment, putting additional pressure on party leadership. As the second impeachment vote drew nearer, the leadership became unable to maintain party discipline, and the boycott strategy ultimately unraveled.

On December 14, a second motion for presidential impeachment was brought before the National Assembly. All 300 members of the Assembly participated in the vote, which passed with 204 in favor, 85 against, 3 abstentions, and 8 invalid ballots. With the motion’s passage, President Yoon has been formally suspended from office pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which would determine whether to uphold the impeachment.