SEOUL (AFP) – Lawmakers camping out in Parliament, hundreds of thousands of protestors expected outside, a landmark vote to impeach the president over martial law – South Korean democracy faces its “most critical moment”, opposition leader Lee Jae Myung told AFP yesterday.
The country could have a new interim leader as soon as tonight, if the impeachment motion set for 7pm succeeds in removing wildly unpopular President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his bid to impose martial law on the democratic South.
Until Yoon is impeached, there remains a risk he may try to subvert civilian rule again, Lee said, warning that the country in turmoil was vulnerable to “another martial law attempt”.
“With the impeachment vote set, the hours leading up to it are extremely precarious,” Lee told AFP at the National Assembly, where he and his party’s lawmakers have been camped out for days, sleeping in their offices and not daring to leave the compound.
“Tonight will be the most critical moment” Lee said, with his members of Parliament planning to all sleep in the main debating chamber, with buses parked on the lawn outside to block helicopters from landing, as happened on Tuesday night.
“People might believe the military and police would hesitate to support a second attempt, but Yoon could exploit loopholes to give it another try,” Lee said.
Lee’s Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the 300-member Parliament, has instructed all of its 170 lawmakers to stay inside the main building until the impeachment vote.
