Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

As one of the People Power Party members Kim Sang-wook re-enters the chamber, the protest rally's mood lifts instantly.

Hope ripples through the crowd. It goes wild as people begin cheering and chanting Kim's name like he's a rock star. Organisers begin playing K-pop songs and people start dancing, singing and waving their multicoloured light sticks. Some even start doing the Mexican wave to a Girls Generation song.

Suddenly a protest has become a pop concert on the streets.

Two more MPs from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have just returned to the chamber, amid applause from opposition lawmakers.

That makes four PPP members who are currently seated in the National Assembly. The opposition needs eight PPP members to vote for President Yoon's impeachment in order for it to pass.

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Image source, Reuters

We have moved with the crowd outside the National Assembly, which has surged in size.

"Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol, impeach Yoon Suk Yeol!" they shout, calling for demonstrators to "surround the National Assembly".

While the opposition MPs continue to cast their vote for the impeachment motion, Speaker Woo Won-shik of the Democratic Party has made a speech asking the ruling People Power Party members who walked out earlier to return to vote.

"The Republic of Korea is a democracy that's made of people's blood and tears," he said. "Are you not afraid of being judged by history, by the people, and by the world?"

"Participate in the voting, that's how you protect our democracy," he said.

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Faced with the prospect that the impeachment vote may not take place, protesters are deeply disappointed. As the temperature drops even further, some are leaving the rally site, though many more have stayed on.

Among them is office worker Choi Eun-chong, 43.

"The freedom of democracy is crumbling because of just one man. It's killing me," he said.

But he remains determined. "We will try impeachment again."

Freelance writer Park Ga-ram left her home in Daegu, a city about four hours drive from Seoul, at 5am today so she could take part in the rallies.

"I think the lawmakers are irresponsible," she said. "I am very disappointed because I was hoping for a good result. I'm left wondering how could this happen now." "I was waiting all day for this. I hope they go back and vote. I'm trying to stay hopeful, but I don't expect it to happen."

Jean Mackenzie
reporting from Seoul

We’re outside the voting chamber in the parliament, where the ruling party members have been walking out one by one, boycotting the vote.

Lots of opposition party members are gathered here. They rushed up as soon as the MPs started leaving, trying to block their exits.

They were chanting “traitors” and “get back in to vote”.

There is enormous anger. It seems there are only one or two ruling party members still left in the chamber, meaning this vote is now bound to fail.

Kim Ye-ji of the People Power Party (PPP) has returned to the chamber to vote on the impeachment motion.

She and Ahn Cheol-soo are now the only PPP members in the chamber. The other 106 walked out before the vote in an apparent boycott.

The motion requires 200 votes to pass, and there are 194 MPs currently present.

MPs are now beginning to vote on the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol.

A reminder that they do not have the required quorum to pass the bill, as all but one of the ruling party MPs left parliament ahead of the vote.

Image source, Reuters

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Outside the assembly, at the massive protest rally, a speaker is reading out the names of every People Power Party lawmaker.

"Go back in, join the vote," the crowds chant after the speaker reads out each name.

Woongbee Lee
reporting from Seoul

Of the 108 MPs from the ruling People Power Party (PPP), 107 have left the chamber. The party likely used a boycott strategy to prevent defections, as the impeachment vote is through anonymous ballots.

Ahn Cheol-soo, a professor-turned-politician who ran for the presidency in 2012, 2017 and 2022, is the only PPP member who remains in his seat.

Ahn has repeatedly said he would vote for impeachment if the president doesn't voluntarily step down before the voting.

Image source, Getty Images

If the impeachment vote fails today - which is likely, given less than two thirds of parliament remain in the chamber - the next time the vote can take place is next Wednesday, 11 Dec.

You can watch the parliamentary proceedings live by clicking the button at the top of this page.

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

Outside parliament, the crowd is continuing to grow as more Koreans converge on the avenue before the National Assembly. Police are stepping up controls.

The protest rally is right by a subway station, and major bottlenecks could be seen at the station exits earlier as people poured out.

Authorities have since closed the station, and police have formed lines along choke points to guide the crowd.

On the fenced-off main thoroughfare, where most of the crowd is sitting in neat rows, walking paths have been marked out with police tape. Text alerts about the crowd situation regularly pop up on our phones.

Seoul saw a deadly crowd crush two years ago at the Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon district. Everyone is trying to make sure that doesn't happen here.

Almost all lawmakers from Yoon's People Power Party walked out of the voting chamber ahead of the impeachment vote.

That means that although the vote can still happen, without the 200 members required to pass it, there is little point.

Image source, Reuters

Tessa Wong
reporting from Seoul

The speaker has chided the ruling party MPs for leaving the voting chamber.

"This is ignoring the will of the people," he said.

"This is disregard of the people, disregard of the national assembly. As representatives, you must not do this."

Opposition MPs erupted in cheers as they heard this.

Ahn Cheol-soo is the only People Power Party lawmaker who remains in the voting chamber.

He has publicly said he would back Yoon's impeachment.

We have just heard that the special counsel bill on the first lady has not passed.

It appears to have failed by two votes. It had 198 votes in favour - it needed 200 to pass.

Image source, EPA

At the centre of the drama currently unfolding in South Korea's parliament is President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yoon is facing impeachment after an abortive attempt to place the country under martial law, a shock move that sank the country into a political crisis.

He won the presidency by a whisker in 2022, but has grown deeply unpopular since then. He has been seen as a lame duck leader since his party lost parliamentary elections in April.

Yoon has also had to stare down a string of controversies, including one involving his wife, who accepted a Dior handbag as a gift.

Read more about South Korea's embattled president here.

Two thirds of the parliament - 200 people - need to vote in favour of the motion for it to pass.

The opposition parties moving the motion almost have the numbers themselves - 192.

This means they need eight votes from the People Power Party (PPP), which is the group the president belongs to.

Most of the lawmakers from the PPP have left the chamber. It is not clear how many have stayed behind or how they will vote.

Several members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) remain seated in the chamber, as votes for the first bill are being opened.

A reminder that the opposition only needs eight members of the PPP to support the impeachment vote for it to pass.