South Korea's president avoids an impeachment attempt over martial law

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law, as most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers.

The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals.

After the motion fell through, members of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party rallied inside the National Assembly, chanting slogans calling for Yoon's impeachment or resignation. The party's floor leader, Park Chan-dae, said it will soon prepare for a new impeachment motion.

“We'll surely impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the greatest risk to Republic of Korea,” party leader Lee Jae-myung said. “We'll surely bring back this country to normal before Christmas Day or year's end.”

Despite escaping the impeachment attempt, many experts worry Yoon won’t be able to serve out his remaining 2 ½ years in office. They say some ruling party lawmakers could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Yoon if public demands for it grow further.

The ruling party risks "further public outrage and national confusion if they don’t find a formula fast for Yoon’s departure,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people densely packed several blocks of roads leading up to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing. Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for its lawmakers to vote to impeach Yoon. A smaller crowd of Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied in separate streets in Seoul, decrying the impeachment attempt they saw as unconstitutional.

Impeaching Yoon required support from 200 of the National Assembly's 300 members. The Democratic Party and five other small opposition parties, which filed the motion, have 192 seats combined. But only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn’t reach 200.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy that has been closely watched by the world.

Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday.

If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days.

Earlier Saturday, Yoon issued a public apology over the martial law decree, saying he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.”

“The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”

The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the U.S. and Japan.

“Yoon’s credibility overseas has been undermined by declaring martial law, so he won’t be able to exercise leadership in his foreign policies especially when his days are numbered,” Kim, the analyst, said. “Its government bureaucracy will need to continue business as usual for existing alliance and foreign policy initiatives as best it can because there is a lot of important work to do globally.”

Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. Eighteen lawmakers from the ruling party voted to reject Yoon’s martial law decree along with opposition lawmakers. PPP later decided to oppose Yoon's impeachment motion.

Yoon’s speech fueled speculation that he and his party may push for a constitutional amendment to shorten his term, instead of accepting impeachment, as a way to ease public anger over the marital law and facilitate Yoon’s early exit from office.

Lee told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment. His party called Yoon’s martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.”

Lawmakers on Saturday first voted on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate stock price manipulation allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife.

On Friday, PPP chair Han Dong-hun, who criticized Yoon’s martial law declaration, said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities.”

Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s spy agency, told lawmakers Friday that Yoon had ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians including Han, Lee and Woo.

The Defense Ministry said Friday it suspended three military commanders including the head of the defense counterintelligence unit over their involvement in enforcing martial law.

Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has told parliament that Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly. Opposition parties accused Kim of recommending to Yoon to enforce martial law.

Kim resigned Thursday, and prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on him.

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announces that "the voting cannot take place" because the quorum was not reached during a plenary session for the impeachment vote of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to take place at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung reacts during a press conference with his party members at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters stage a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment following the president's short-lived martial law declaration in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Seo Dae-yeon/Yonhap via AP)

People gather outside the National Assembly during the voting for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, following the President's short-lived martial law declaration in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Protesters stage a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment following the president's short-lived martial law declaration in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Seo Dae-yeon/Yonhap via AP)

People wait in freezing weather outside the National Assembly during the voting for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, following the President's short-lived martial law declaration in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announces bangs the gavel to announce that "the voting cannot take place" because the quorum was not reached during a plenary session for the impeachment vote of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to take place at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)

Protesters stage a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment following the president's short-lived martial law declaration in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Seo Dae-yeon/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, shout slogans during a press conference with his party members at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. The signs read "Punish the rebellion leader." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A view of the hall where the plenary session for the impeachment vote of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to take place at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP)

People gather during a rally held by conservative groups supporting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and denouncing opposition parties' lawmakers who demanding impeachment of the president, in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, following the president's short-lived martial law declaration. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Protesters attend a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, following the president's short-lived martial law declaration. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters attend a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, following the president's short-lived martial law declaration. The signs read, "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters stage a rally demanding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, following the president's short-lived martial law declaration. The signs read, "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A man passes by screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)

People watch TV screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at a Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A man watches TV screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at a Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A woman watches a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A man watches a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A protester holds banner and shouts slogans against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this image made from a video, An Gwiryeong, front right, confronts one of the soldiers as parliamentarians scrambled to get inside the National Assembly building to reverse martial law, in Seoul Dec. 4, 2024. (YONHAP NEWS TV via AP)

A supporter of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A vendor sells LED lights at a protest rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol chant slogans outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Protesters against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gather outside the ruling People Power Party headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Vehicles are parked on the lawn of the National Assembly to prevent helicopters from landing due to concerns of any possible additional acts following the President's short-lived martial law declaration at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Inside a lavish clubhouse on Doha’s waterfront, tensions strained by months of fruitless back-and-forth weighed on negotiators as the hour neared 3 a.m.

On the first floor, a Hamas delegation whose leader had once evaded an Israeli airstrike that killed seven family members combed through the details of yet another proposal to halt the war in Gaza. On the second floor, advisers to Israel’s intelligence chief, who had vowed to hunt down those responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, did the same.

With Qatari, U.S. and Egyptian mediators pushing for resolution, did the sides — such bitter enemies that they refused to speak directly to one another — at last have a deal to pause the fighting and bring dozens of Israeli hostages home?

“They were extremely suspicious towards each other. No trust at all,” said an Egyptian official involved in the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The talks that night a week ago dragged on over disagreements about maps showing where Israel would begin withdrawing troops and its demand that Hamas provide a list of hostages who remained alive, he said.

“Both parties were looking at each word in the deal as a trap.”

By the time Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, announced a ceasefire deal last Wednesday evening, mediators had scrambled again to defuse objections by both sides. Even then, disagreements and delays continued over the two days that followed.

But as the fighting in Gaza paused this week, three young Israeli women were released from captivity and dozens of Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel, the agreement, however tenuous, has held.

The story of how Israel and Hamas found their way to a deal stretches back over more than a year. But the timing and unlikely partners who coalesced to push negotiations across the line help explain why it finally happened now.

“Over the course of the last week all of the stars aligned finally in a way that, after 15 months of carnage and bloodshed, negotiations came to fruition,” said Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar.

The agreement was the product of a singular political moment, with one U.S. president preparing to hand power to another.

Both were pushing for a deal to free some 100 Israeli hostages and bring an end to a war that began with the Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 in Israel. Palestinian health officials say more than 47,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the conflict.

The health officials do not distinguish between civilians and militants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

In tiny but wealthy Qatar, the talks had a steward that positions itself as a go-between in a region on edge, one that hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East even as it provides offices for leaders of Hamas and the Taliban. Egypt, eager to ease instability that has driven an influx of Palestinians across its border and sparked attacks on sea lanes by Houthi rebels, worked to keep the talks on track.

The circumstances partnered Sheikh Mohammed with improbable allies. Then-President Joe Biden sent Brett McGurk, a veteran Middle East hand in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Donald Trump dispatched Steve Witkoff, a Bronx-born real estate billionaire with little if any diplomatic experience, but a longtime friendship with the then-president-elect.

The deal they brought together calls for continued negotiations that could be even more fraught, but with the potential to release the remaining hostages and end a war that has destroyed much of Gaza and roiled the entire region.

In the end, negotiators got it done in a matter of days. But it followed months of deadlock over the number of Israeli hostages that would be freed, the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and the parameters of a pullback by Israeli troops in the embattled enclave.

In late May, Biden laid out a proposed deal, which he said had come from Israel. It drew heavily on language and concepts hammered out with Qatari and Egyptian mediators, calling for a phased agreement with continued negotiation toward a “sustainable calm” – verbiage designed to satisfy both sides.

But talks had stalled even before the detonation of a bomb, attributed to Israel, in late July killed Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau. And efforts by mediators to restart them were derailed when Israeli forces found the bodies of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel in August.

“Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

Pressure on Hamas increased after Israeli forces killed leader Yahya Sinwar — an architect of the Oct. 7 attack — and launched a devastating offensive against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the group’s longtime ally.

But Qatari officials, frustrated by the lack of progress, announced they were suspending mediation until both sides demonstrated willingness to negotiate.

Weeks later, Trump dispatched Witkoff, a golfing buddy whose most notable prior link to the Middle East was his $623 million sale of New York’s Park Lane Hotel to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2023.

Flying to Doha in late November, Witkoff asked mediators to lay out the problems undermining the talks, then continued on to meet officials in Israel. The talks restarted soon after, gaining ground through December.

“Witkoff and McGurk were pushing the Israelis. Qatar was pushing Hamas,” said an official briefed on the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Assigning credit for the progress depends on viewpoint.

The Egyptian official recounted the frustration of successfully pushing Hamas to agree to changes last summer, only to find Netanyahu imposing new conditions.

An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity last week because the negotiations were ongoing said Sinwar’s death and Iran’s weakening influence in the region forced Hamas’ hand, leading to real give-and-take rather than “playing a game of negotiation.”

He and others close to the process said Trump's rhetoric and dispatch of an envoy had injected new momentum. The Egyptian official pointed to a statement by Trump on social media that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released, saying it had pressured both Hamas and Israeli officials to get a deal done.

And mediators said the willingness of Witkoff and McGurk -- representing leaders loathe to give one another credit for the deal – to partner up was critical.

“How they have handled this as a team since the election, without yet being in office, has really helped close the gaps that allowed us to reach a deal,” Majed Al Ansari, the adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.

In early January, there was a breakthrough in the talks when Hamas agreed to provide a list of hostages it would release in the first phase of a deal, an official briefed on the talks said.

McGurk flew from Washington to Doha hours later. Witkoff followed at week’s end.

The following day – Saturday, January 11 – Witkoff flew to Israel, securing a meeting with Netanyahu even though it was the Jewish sabbath. McGurk called in. Netanyahu agreed to send the heads of Israeli intelligence and internal security back to Doha for negotiations.

That led to extended negotiations, most convening in the Qatari prime minister’s private office, that lasted late into the night.

At points, mediators shuttled back and forth between adversaries on different floors. At others, the chief negotiators for the two sides cycled separately into the prime minister’s office to hash out details.

“But the Hamas and Israeli delegations never crossed paths,” said the official briefed on the talks.

After the lead negotiators for each side left Sheikh Mohammed’s office late Tuesday, the work shifted to the waterfront club owned by the foreign affairs ministry, where “technical teams” from both sides pored over the specific language, a floor apart.

“Until late the first hours of Wednesday we were working tirelessly to resolve last-minute disputes,” said the Egyptian official involved in the negotiations.

After extended discussions focused on the buffer zone Israel is to maintain in Gaza and the names of prisoners to be released, the long night ended with an agreement seemingly at hand, said the official briefed on the talks.

But with reporters gathering Wednesday evening for an announcement, “a last-minute hiccup, last-minute requests from both sides” forced a delay, the official said.

Israel accused Hamas of trying to make changes to already agreed upon arrangements along Gaza’s border with Egypt. Hamas called the claims “nonsense.”

A senior U.S. official involved in the talks said Hamas negotiators made several last-minute demands, but “we held very firm.”

After calling the Hamas negotiators into his office, with the media and the world still anxiously waiting, the Qatari prime minister met separately with the Israelis and U.S. envoys. Finally, three hours behind schedule, Sheikh Mohammed stepped to a lectern to announce the parties had reached an agreement.

Even then, negotiations resumed the following day to wrangle with questions about final implementation of the deal and mechanisms for doing so. By the time the talks ended, it was 4 a.m.

Hours later, Israeli President Isaac Herzog voiced his hope that the deal would bring a national moment of goodwill, healing and rebuilding.

But no one can say how long it will last.

The deal calls for Israel and Hamas to resume talks just over a week from now, to work out the second phase. That is supposed to include the release of all remaining hostages, living and dead, and a permanent ceasefire. But getting there, observers say, will likely be even tougher.

—-

Magdy reported from Cairo, Geller from New York, and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press reporter Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this story.

FILE - A Red Cross convoy arrives to collect Israeli hostages who were released after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect, in Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar, File)

FILE - Palestinians stand near buildings destroyed by an Israeli air and ground offensive, Jan. 19, 2025, in Rafah. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar, File)

FILE - Fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, control the crowd while Red Cross vehicles come to collect Israeli hostages to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar, File)

FILE - Friends and relatives of the hostages abducted by Hamas react to the ceasefire announcement during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

FILE - Palestinians gather around a TV as they await the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Jan. 15, 2025.(AP Photo/(AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

FILE - Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, chairs a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2024. (Nir Elias/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump listens to Steve Witkoff speak during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks at a joint press conference with the U.S. secretary of state in Doha, Qatar, June 12, 2024. (Ibraheem Al Omari/AP File)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at a ball after his inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, meets with his security Cabinet to vote on a ceasefire deal that would pause the 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza, in Jerusalem, Jan. 17, 2025. (Koby Gideon/Israeli Government Press Office via AP, File)

FILE - President Joe Biden, center, with Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Sec. of State Anthony Blinken, right, speaks at the White House on the announcement of a ceasefire deal in Gaza after more than 15 months of war, Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - A man waves a Palestinian flag as he returns home to Rafah, after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga, File)