South Korea Opposition Moves to Impeach

South Korea's opposition parties submitted a motion on Wednesday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over the shocking and short-lived martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament, before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order, per the AP. The nation's main opposition party had earlier urged Yoon to resign immediately to avoid impeachment.

• The martial law declaration was a "grave violation of the constitution. It was a grave act of rebellion and provides perfect grounds for his impeachment," the Democratic Party said in a statement. "We will not sit idly by and watch President Yoon's crime of destroying the constitution and trampling on democracy."
• Impeaching him would require support from two-thirds of parliament, or 200 of its 300 members, the AP reports, and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court. The motion, submitted jointly by the main opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday. The opposition parties together have 192 seats. But when the parliament rejected Yoon's martial law declaration in a 190-0 vote, about 10 lawmakers from Yoon's People Power Party cast ballots supporting the rejection, according to National Assembly officials.

• On Tuesday night, Yoon abruptly imposed the emergency martial law, vowing to eliminate "anti-state" forces after he struggled to push forward his agenda in the opposition-dominated parliament. But his martial law was effective for only about six hours.
• After Yoon's declaration, troops carrying rifles and police officers were quickly deployed at parliament to ban the entrance of people, as protesters crowded outside. An AP photographer saw at least three helicopters, likely from the military, that landed inside the Assembly grounds, while two or three helicopters circled above the site.
• No major violence has been reported. The troops and police personnel were later seen leaving the National Assembly grounds after the vote to lift the martial law. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik said: "Even with our unfortunate memories of military coups, our citizens have surely observed the events of today and saw the maturity of our military."
• The BBC reports that leaders of Yoon's party have agreed to demand that he leave the party. Yoon's senior advisers and secretaries offered to resign collectively, and Cabinet members including Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun were also facing calls to step down, as the nation struggled to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly thought-out stunt, per the AP.

• The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has more than 1.2 million members, called for an "indefinite general strike" until Yoon steps down, the Guardian reports.
• If Yoon is impeached, he'll be stripped of his constitutional powers until the Constitutional Court can rule on his fate.
• The White House said the US was "seriously concerned" and a National Security Council rep said the administration was not notified in advance of the martial law announcement. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said there was no effect on the more than 27,000 US service members in South Korea.

(This story has been updated throughout with new developments.)
(More South Korea stories.)