Lawmakers in South Korea on Wednesday submitted a bill for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law on Tuesday night, invading National Assembly complex with masked Martial law military troops to stop Reps from overturning or overruling the declaration, but, the ruling People Power Party, PPP held an emergency meeting later on Wednesday and resolved to unite and stand as hurdle against the call for Yoon’s impeachment.

Local media reported that the decision to stand as hurdle to the opposition Parties’ lawmakers impeachment notice against Yoon was made at a meeting of the ruling PPP lawmakers, who endorsed the party’s position of opposing President Yoon’s impeachment, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News media.

According to local media, Yoon had earlier met with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and other PPP leaders on Wednesday to discuss future strategy after opposition parties filed an impeachment motion in response to the brief martial law declaration late Tuesday evening and Wednesday early morning night.

Political observers in South Korea said the the impeachment motion must receive a two-thirds majority in parliament to be approved. The opposition will need eight votes from ruling party lawmakers out of the 300 lawmakers in the National Assembly to pass the bill.

“Yoon’s declaration of martial law is a clear violation of the Constitution,” the Democrats Party wrote in a resolution seeking Yoon’s impeachment, according to the South Korean news agency, Yonhap. “This is a serious act of rebellion and a perfect reason for impeachment”, the Democrats stated.

For the impeachment to take effect, Lawmakers now have 24 to 72 hours to vote on whether to oust the president. Notably, no PPP lawmakers supported the impeachment motion, though the head of the party expressed exasperation with the martial law decree on Tuesday. According to Yonhap, given the current makeup of the Assembly, eight PPP lawmakers would have to defect to give the motion the two-thirds majority it requires to remove Yoon.

Reuters through its Facebook page showed a live broadcast view of South Korea’s Parliament after South Korean lawmakers submitted the bill to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.

CNN also identified a woman in a  video that has gone viral as Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a journalist-turned-lawmaker scuffling with an armed solider outside South Korea’s parliament building during the political turmoil on Wednesday early morning night. Ahn is the spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party and former anchor on broadcaster YTN.

It would be recalled that Parliament members in South Korea battled soldiers to get inside their building at 1:00am, after the country’s president declared “emergency martial law,” blaming Democratic opponents for bringing his conservative government to a standstill and, without proof, colluding with North Korea. Lawmakers blocked the president’s declaration unanimously with 190 votes to 0, for the Parliament members who were able to force their way into the National Assembly hall mid night.

President Yoon, elected in a bitterly fought election in 2022, declared martial law on television on Tuesday night, a widely unexpected move that shocked the nation and international observers. Yoon argued that legislative obstruction by the opposition Democratic Party had turned the National Assembly into a “den of criminals” and necessitated military action.

“I declare martial law to protect the Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces. To immediately eradicate the unscrupulous pro-Pyongyang anti-state forces that pillage the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect free constitutional order”, Yoon stated during the declaration on Tuesday night on National Television.

The Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly rapidly sprung into action, flooding into legislative chambers while blocking heavily armed soldiers who have stated that, under martial law, political assemblies were illegal.

The Democrats have controlled the Assembly since April, when they won regional elections against the conservatives in a landslide.

We had earlier reported that Protesters flooded streets, demanding President Yoon Suk Yeol resignation after  a long night of military and civilian show of force in South Korea from 11pm on Tuesday night and almost throughout entire early morning night of Wednesday when 190 lawmakers from opposition political party including 18 from the President political party, jumped fences to convey important and urgent parliamentary meeting after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the country and ordered masked martial law  troops with rifles to invade the National Assembly of the forth Asia largest  economy country to stop the lawmakers, but, the soldiers met a stiffer civilian barricades who engaged the soldiers with fire extinguishers at the National Assembly complex and hold them back until the lawmakers successfully held the plenary session and voted to outlaw the President martial law declaration.

Videos posted online showed thousands of South Korean protesters held a candlelight vigil and rally in downtown Seoul streets against President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been in office since 2022 to resign.

Protesters held up signs that read “Step down President Yoon Suk Yeol” as people and lawmakers attend a rally in Seoul, the South Korea capital, according to Reuters International news agency.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had on Tuesday declared martial law, vowing to eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces” and restore order. Martial law was last declared in the country in 1979.

Soon after the declaration, protests broke out in Seoul and thousands gathered at the National Assembly with South Korea’s main opposition party lawmakers and some ruling party lawmakers jumped fences and tussled with security forces so they could vote to overturn the law.

According to Reuters, thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament where there were minor clashes with police and military. Lawmakers gathered to vote against martial law, as both opposition lawmakers and leaders of Yoon’s own party decried it as unconstitutional.

All 190 of the lawmakers present voted to lift martial law, including 18 from Yoon’s own party. Yoon ordered troops to pull back and later lifted the decree after convening a cabinet meeting.

190 of the National Assembly’s 300 members defied police and military cordons to vote against the declaration, forcing Yoon to lift the martial law order.

The move late on Tuesday shocked South Koreans, with Yoon calling in the military which released a decree banning protests and activity by parliament and political parties, and placing media under government control, according to Reuters.

The International news agency added that “the military named Army Chief of Staff, General Park An-su, a four-star general, to head a martial law command and released the decree effective at 11 pm on Tuesday.

Besides banning political activity and restricting the media, the decree also ordered striking doctors back to work.
Those who violate martial law could be arrested without a warrant, it said.

Masked martial law troops equipped with rifles, body armour and night-vision equipment entered the National Assembly where they faced off with staffers who opposed them with fire extinguishers”.

Secretary General of South Korea’s National Assembly, Kim Min-ki condemned the military on Wednesday morning for breaking into the legislature during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law, saying that nearly 300 troops had stormed the compound.

Kim Min-ki said at a news briefing that; “I strongly condemn the illegal, unconstitutional actions of the military and the destruction it caused at the National Assembly premises due to President Yoon’s decree of martial law”.

He vowed to seek legal remedies for the damage caused, and he said the police, who prevented some lawmakers from entering the building overnight, would be barred from the premises.

Kim offered the most detailed official account yet of the military’s incursion, saying, about 230 troops were flown by helicopter onto the assembly grounds, and roughly 50 others jumped fences to gain entry, he said.

Kim played closed-circuit footage of soldiers entering the compound at the news briefing, saying that all such video would soon be made public.