Jack Burgess
Live page editor

Image source, EPA

It has been another dramatic and politically turbulent day in South Korea.

Opposition MPs fell a handful of votes short in their bid to impeach embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol following his short-lived declaration of martial law on Tuesday.

Lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote, except for three of the party's MPs, meaning the bill fell short of the 200 members (two thirds of the chamber) required to pass it.

This means that the president stays in office for now but remains in a politically precarious position, with tens of thousands of people gathering in Seoul to call for his resignation.

Image source, Reuters

President Yoon Suk Yeolis outnumbered in parliament, with opposition parties having 192 MPs, and his low approval ratings in South Korea have dwindled even further.

The opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, has said he believes they will "definitely impeach Yoon Suk Yeol" and calls the president the "worst risk to the Republic of Korea".

We're about to pause our live page but you can continue reading with our latest stories:

• South Korean president survives impeachment vote
• 'Are we about to repeat history?': Martial law's traumatic legacy in South Korea
• S Korea president apologises for martial law declaration

This page was edited by Rorey Bosotti and Jack Burgess in London, and Ayeshea Perera and Gavin Butler in Singapore.

It was written by Tessa Wong, Laura Bicker, Jean Mackenzie, Woongbee Lee and Jake Kwon in Seoul.

Jake Kwon
reporting from Seoul

Image source, EPA

Now that the impeachment vote has failed, what’s the next move for both parties?

The main opposition Democratic Party said it will hold a weekly impeachment vote beginning next Saturday.

The party is also counting on the number of protesters to swell in the meantime, increasing pressure on the ruling People Power Party.

They just need eight MPs to cross the floor.

Image source, EPA

The PPP’s plan is not yet clear, but it desperately wants to leave the martial law issue behind.

Hours ahead of the impeachment vote, Yoon offered to take a backseat, letting his party steer the country.

But that had barely placated the opposition.

The country’s largest conservative papers urged the president to form a coalition government with the opposition or offer a constitutional reform to shorten his five-year term.

The ruling party’s plan depends on the voters moving past the shocking evening of martial law, which appears very unlikely today.

What was Yoon thinking when he declared martial law?published at 14:24 Greenwich Mean Time 7 December 2024

14:24 GMT 7 December 2024

Laura Bicker
reporting from Seoul

Image source, Reuters

In the wake of President Yoon's short-lived martial law order, the big question remains: What was he thinking?

There are some clues.

We caught a glimpse of his view on power during his election campaign, when he praised authoritarian general Chun Doo-hwan - known for his bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists - for being "good at politics".

Since he won the presidency by the slimmest margin in 2022, barely a month has passed without controversy - from criticism over his administration's response to the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul to his wife's corruption scandal.

After a crushing defeat at the parliamentary election in April, Yoon has been increasingly frustrated with an opposition-controlled parliament and seen dismal approval ratings.

He may also well have been driven by the fear of prosecution. One needs to look no further than the last decade to see how his predecessors had been impeached and jailed for corruption.

But Yoon clearly miscalculated how his gamble would be received by the public, for many of whom martial law conjures up chilling memories of the country's authoritarian past.

• You can read more of our analysis by following this link

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Martial law has a traumatic legacy in South Korea.

Koh Jae-hak can still vividly remember when he saw soldiers gunning down a group of young women in cold blood.

It was April 1960. Students had launched protests calling for the resignation of the dictatorial president Syngman Rhee.

Though South Korea is now widely considered a peaceful beacon of democracy in Asia, it is a country which spent its first 40 years ruled largely by dictators, suffering through 16 bouts of martial law.

And for those who witnessed them first hand, like Koh, Tuesday night's drama has sparked worries about a repeat of history.

You can read more about the mood in South Korea this week here.

Image source, Reuters

As MPs from South Korea's ruling People Power Party left the chamber in an apparent boycott of the impeachment vote against President Yoon, there was just one who remained seated.

Ahn Cheol-soo had already publicly announced his support for the impeachment motion, breaking from the PPP's official stance.

Anh, who trained as a medical doctor, entered politics in 2006 at the age of 44.

Image source, Reuters

He has since run for the presidency thrice - unsuccessfully - and his campaigns generally focused on reducing income inequality and cracking down on corruption.

The 62-year-old has also called for a tougher approach towards North Korea.

Ahn has been a member of various parties throughout his political career, including as co-founder of the Democratic Party (DP), which is now South Korean's main opposition party.

He became a member of the ruling People Power Party in 2022, after it merged with one of the parties he founded.

Image source, Reuters

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung has already addressed the crowd after attempts to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol failed.

Speaking from the steps of the National Assembly, Lee apologises for "not being able to produce the desired results due to our shortcomings" but insists his party "will not give up".

He continues by saying "we will definitely return this country to normal by Christmas and the end of the year and give it to you as a Christmas and end-of-year gift".

Image source, Reuters

Protesters waited for hours outside to learn whether a bill seeking to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol would pass.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik ultimately confirmed the vote could not go ahead because the minimum number of votes needed for the bill to go through couldn't be reached.

As crowds head home for the night, here's some pictures from in Seoul capturing the extent of the protest:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, reuter

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Protest organisers are now wrapping up proceedings.

As they blast Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas, they urge demonstrators to pick up rubbish and not to forget their belongings.

The crowd peacefully disperses on this oddly festive note.

Tessa Wong and Jake Kwon
reporting from Seoul

Image source, EPA

The crowd is starting to thin as disconsolate protesters peel off.

Onstage a protest organiser is defiant: "We will not stop until Yoon is punished.

"The people will not accept the existence of PPP. We will fight till the end till Yoon is impeached. Dear people, will you join us in our fight to remove Yoon?"

The remaining sizeable crowd roars yes.

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

The speaker announces they will start counting.

As parliamentary officials begin counting votes, the crowd goes quiet watching the live broadcast on screen.

Some are letting out disappointed groans. A few scream at the screen. Then the crowd starts chanting "impeach impeach"

The speaker then announces "the voting cannot take place" because they did not reach quorum.

A woman next to us cries out in pain and buries her face in her partner's chest.

Then she wipes tears from her face, as he pats her shoulder.

Tessa Wong and Jake Kwon
reporting from Seoul

With just minutes left to the end of the vote, the festive mood and smiles at the rally has evaporated.

The mood has turned urgent and grim.

Protesters chant over and over "go in", urging PPP MPs to vote.

Organisers are blasting music and the chant has become out of sync.

Almost a cacophony of sounds now.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik says the vote to impeach President Yoon will close down at approximately 21:20 local time (12:20 GMT).

The vote was previously expected to continue until the impeachment bill was set to expire at 00:48 (15:48 GMT). This was in order to allow members of the ruling PPP party to return to the chamber after abandoning the vote earlier in the afternoon.

Jack Burgess
Live page editor

Image source, Reuters

It's coming up to 21:00 local time in Seoul and is nearly midday here in London.

If you're just joining us, or are in need of a catch up, here's what's been happening so far today:

• Lawmakers in South Korea's capital, Seoul, are voting on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is fighting for his political survival after declaring martial law on Tuesday. The move was quickly overturned by MPs and the president apologised this morning, saying he would not impose martial law again

• The developments have sparked fury among many people in South Korea, with tens of thousands gathering outside the National Assembly in Seoul today to call for the president to either stand down or be removed from office
• The bill to impeach the president is currently short of the 200 members (two thirds of the chamber) required to pass it
• The opposition parties, which have 192 MPs, need eight lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to back the bill for it to pass. However, all but three PPP MPs have boycotted the vote as it stands and walked out of the chamber earlier today
• One of the ruling party MPs who re-entered the voting chamber told reporters he had voted against the impeachment bill
• The impeachment vote is open until 00:48 local time (15:48 GMT) and those in favour of impeachment will be hoping more PPP lawmakers return to vote before the deadline

We're now getting pictures from our colleagues in Seoul showing protesters standing near the exits of the National Assembly to prevent members from leaving the building.

A little earlier, we reported all but one MP from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) had left the chamber. Two colleagues have since returned.

Image source, Reuters

While President Yoon's declaration of martial late on Tuesday was seen as unacceptable by lawmakers of all stripes, the vote for him to be impeached has not been straightforward, says Sydney Seiler, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"It is a complex issue [which] touches on the standoff between the ruling and opposition parties," Seiler tells BBC News, noting the ruling party's official stance to vote against it.

He describes the martial law declaration as "using sledgehammer to push a pin in the wall".

"There was universal agreement that it was unacceptable, but political problems [between the parties have existed] before the martial law, and will continue," he says.

Still, Seiler adds he is optimistic that the "democratic mechanism that is in place [in South Korea] always works its way out".

Kim Sang-wook, one of the ruling party MPs who re-entered the voting chamber, told reporters he had voted against the impeachment bill, in line with his party's official stance.

Kim said he returned because he believes it is important to cast his vote.

Earlier we reported that crowds outside parliament cheered when he returned.

Image source, Reuters

Natalie Thomas
reporting from Seoul

Journalists and party members gathered in the general assembly have opened up a channel to the chamber in the hopes that more members from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) will return.

The impeachment vote is being kept open in the hopes that more PPP members will come back and vote for it. They technically have until 00:48 (15:48GMT) to vote on the bill - which will be exactly 72 hours after the motion was put in.

Two PPP members have returned, making a total of three currently in parliament. The opposition needs eight PPP members to vote for President Yoon's impeachment in order for it to pass.

Richard Kim and Jungmin Choi
BBC Korean

Image source, BBC Korea / Jungmin Choi

Cho Kyung-tae was one of the first members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to say he would support the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Today, however, he joined other MPs from his party in leaving the chamber ahead of the impeachment vote.

So why did he change his mind?

"I was determined to agree to the impeachment bill until yesterday, because there was no word from the president's office nor public apology for martial law or any follow-up measures," Cho told BBC Korean ahead of the vote. "However, I heard that he was announcing an apology to the public today."

Cho added that PPP party leader Han Dong-hoon's decision to not support the motion also contributed to his decision.

"Most members of the National Assembly acknowledge that the president's declaration of martial law was an incorrect and wrong action," he said. "However, there is concern that if impeachment is used as a means to address the president's wrongdoings, it will lead to an early presidential election."

Cho noted that an early election could lead to the opposition party taking power, "creating a sense of unease".

"As a result, many members of the National Assembly find themselves in a very difficult situation and are reluctant to support impeachment," he explained.

If parliament does not vote for Yoon to be impeached today, the opposition will try again to call for a vote, opposition MP Joon Hyung Kim just told the BBC outside the voting chamber.

"Every week, we will do it until we succeed," said Joon, a member of the Rebuilding Korea Party.

Joon also called for members of the ruling party to "listen to the people", adding that he expects voting to go on until as late as midnight.

We earlier reported that four ruling People Power Party lawmakers had returned to the chamber to vote, based on local media reports.

Local media have since retracted their reports about the fourth member.

Only three PPP members are confirmed to have returned.