South Korea protests in large scale demanding president's resignation
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (photo: Getty Images)
On Saturday, the South Korean parliament failed to vote on the president's resignation. In this regard, a large-scale protest began outside the building, reports YONHAP.
According to the newspaper, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik did not close the vote and left it open after lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) left the plenary session to vote on the impeachment motion against Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law in the country this week.
As a result, all 192 opposition MPs and only three PPP MPs voted in favor of the impeachment. At the same time, the speaker of the assembly and opposition MPs demanded that members of the ruling PPP return and vote anyway. In order for the decision to be passed, 200 votes out of a possible 300 are needed.
Amid reports that a boycott by PPP MPs could disrupt the vote due to the lack of a quorum, the crowd of people gathered outside the parliament building erupted in anger.
People lined up in columns and headed to the walls of the building to surround it in protest, calling on lawmakers to vote to impeach the president. Some of them moved to the side gate of the complex amid rumors that MPs from the ruling party might leave the parliament from there.
The newspaper writes that hundreds of thousands of people gathered near the National Assembly building, filling the streets. Some of the protesters tried to climb over the wall of the parliament building and police barricades but were still refused by other people who called for a “peaceful” rally.
Today, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made an address to the nation in which he apologized for the attempt to impose martial law in the country. At the same time, he did not resign. Still, the head of state said that he would not try to avoid legal and political responsibility.
