South Korean president’s get together divided over defiant martial legislation speech | USAEMALL.com

The party boycotted the last vote, preventing a quorum. At least 200 votes are needed to impeach Yoon. Opposition parties have 192 seats, so they need at least eight PPP members to join.

As of Thursday, at least seven members of the party were expected to support a new impeachment motion.

One PPP lawmaker who said he would now vote to impeach Yoon said the president’s new remarks may have rallied some loyalists but sowed more confusion and division among conservatives.

“His speech had an impact on the election of the floor leader. Also, it sounds like he urged those who blindly follow the president among conservatives to take action,” PPP lawmaker Kim Sang-wook told reporters.

Kim said he felt frustrated and betrayed because the speech dashed his last hopes that Yoon would leave office in a “decent” way.

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR IMPEACHMENT

Opinion polls show a majority of South Koreans support impeaching Yoon. A survey released by pollster Realmeter on Dec 5 found 73.6 per cent of respondents supported impeachment, including 50.4 per cent of those who identified themselves as conservatives.

Yoon’s speech lit up conservative political forums online, with the top-ranked posts titled “Martial law was the most reasonable decision”, and “Han made a wrong decision”.

After Yoon’s speech, scuffles could be seen breaking out between attendees of a pro-conservative rally in central Seoul and an opposition supporter who removed a banner of support for Yoon’s martial law declaration.

Kim Tae-hyun, who attended the rally, said he thought Yoon did a “good job” with his speech and had the right to declare martial law.

“And the impeachment just shouldn’t happen … So (the martial law declaration) was merely an expression of the authority of the president,” said Kim. “The Democratic Party, which is currently holding the country back, is the real issue.”