South Korean Politics

On the evening of December 3, 2024, South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol illegally declared martial law, resulting in his impeachment not two weeks later on December 14. The National Assembly, South Korea's legislative body, largely controlled by opposition parties, voted to lift martial law with a simple majority. However, the first impeachment vote failed after failing to reach a two-thirds quorum of 200 votes due to a boycott of the vote by the ruling People Power Party, which controls 108 of 300 seats. A second impeachment vote, held a week later on December 14, was successful, with 12 defections from the ruling party in favor of impeachment and another 11 defections abstaining or invalidating their votes.