South Korea president escapes impeachment over martial law fiasco

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol escaped impeachment Saturday over his brief declaration of martial law, after lawmakers from his ruling party boycotted a vote despite huge protests outside parliament.

Yoon stunned the nation and the international community on Tuesday night by suspending civilian rule and sending troops to parliament, but was forced into a U-turn after lawmakers nixed his decree.

Opposition parties proposed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes in the 300-member parliament to pass, but a near-total boycott by Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) doomed it to failure.

"The number of members who voted did not reach the required two-thirds majority," National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik said, saying that as a result, the impeachment vote was "not valid".

The country -- and the world -- was watching, he said, adding it was "very regrettable that a vote could not even be held on such a significant national issue".

He said it signified "a failure to engage in the democratic process" on the part of the ruling party.

The PPP claimed after the vote that it had blocked the impeachment to avoid "severe division and chaos", adding that it would "resolve this crisis in a more orderly and responsible manner".

Party leader Han Dong-hoon said that the party had "effectively obtained" Yoon's promise to step down, and said until this happened he would "be effectively excluded from his duties", leaving the prime minister and party to manage state affairs.

The impeachment outcome disappointed the huge crowds -- numbering 150,000 according to police, one million according to organisers -- demonstrating outside parliament for Yoon's ouster.

Demonstrators booed while some sighed or even wept in frustration as the ruling party lawmakers walked out of the chamber.

"Even though we didn't get the outcome we wanted today, I am neither discouraged nor disappointed because we will get it eventually," said Jo Ah-gyeong, 30.

"I'll keep coming here until we get it," she told AFP.

- 'Politically dead' -

The opposition has already vowed to try to impeach Yoon again as soon as Wednesday, and many protesters vowed to continue demonstrations next weekend.

"I will impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who has become the worst risk for South Korea, at any cost," opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said.

Before the vote, Yoon, 63, apologised for the turmoil but said he would leave it to his party to decide his fate.

"I caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I sincerely apologise," he said in the televised address, his first public appearance in three days.

He said he would "entrust the party with measures to stabilise the political situation, including my term in office".

The backing of PPP lawmakers came despite party head Han -- who was allegedly on an arrest list on Tuesday night -- saying Yoon must go.

Only three PPP lawmakers -- Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim Yea-ji and Kim Sang-wook -- voted in the end.

The failure of the impeachment motion "means a more protracted political crisis," Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean Studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.

"We will have a politically dead president -- basically unable to govern any longer -- and hundreds of thousands coming to the streets every week until Yoon is removed," he said.

Had the motion passed, Yoon would have been suspended from duties pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court.

An opinion poll released Friday put backing for the president at a record low of 13 percent.

- 'Painful memories' -

The ruling party's vote boycott "might delay the demise of Yoon's tenure but won't prevent it -- its road will be messier," Gi-Wook Shin,a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.

Regardless of the vote, police have begun investigating Yoon and others for alleged insurrection.

In his address declaring martial law late Tuesday, Yoon claimed it would "eliminate anti-state elements plundering people's freedom and happiness".

Security forces sealed the National Assembly, helicopters landed on the roof and almost 300 soldiers tried to lock down the building.

But as parliamentary staffers blocked the soldiers with sofas and fire extinguishers, enough MPs got inside -- many climbed walls to enter -- and voted down Yoon's move.

Soldiers had been ordered to detain key politicians, officials from both parties have said, with the special forces chief later describing being given orders to "drag out" MPs from parliament.

Experts and lawmakers have speculated that the elite special forces soldiers may have slow-walked following orders, after discovering themselves to be involved in a political rather than national security incident.

The episode brought back painful memories of South Korea's autocratic past and blindsided its allies, with the US administration only finding out via television.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Friday that he "expects the... democratic process to prevail".