S Korea president close to averting impeachment

AFP :

A motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was on the brink of failing on Saturday, after lawmakers from his ruling party boycotted the ballot despite huge protests outside parliament.
Yoon stunned the nation and the international community 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, which hold 192 seats in the 300-seat parliament filed the impeachment motion, which needed 200 votes to pass and went to the vote on Saturday evening.
But almost all 108 members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) filed out of the chamber before the vote, prompting critical shouts from the opposition — with one yelling “where are you going?” and others calling them “accomplices to insurrection.”
Only three PPP members cast ballots, but speaker Woo Won-shik stopped short of calling the result, appealing to PPP lawmakers to return “to protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy.”
The probable outcome is likely to enrage crowds — numbering 150,000 according to police, one million according to organizers — 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. Some protesters went home.
“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.