South Korean leader faces second impeachment threat over martial law as opposition grows

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will face his second impeachment vote on Saturday, over his martial law declaration that caused political chaos in the country and triggered calls for his impeachment.

Yoon survived an initial legislative attempt to impeach him last week after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote. But dissent has been growing over the past week after he gave a defiant speech on Thursday.

The embattled leader vowed to "fight until the end" in Thursday's speech, and accused the opposition party of freezing the government and forcing him to declare martial law.

"[Yoon’s speech] was a declaration of war against the people," Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said Friday, per NBC News. “Impeachment is the quickest and surest way to end the crisis."

The opposition chief urged the rest of Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) to vote in favor of impeachment on Saturday afternoon. Lee also thanked South Korean allies for supporting democracy in the Asian country.

Six opposition parties on Thursday introduced the impeachment motion, but are eight votes short of the necessary numbers for it to pass. However, seven of Yoon's party members have now said they will support the second impeachment vote. If he is impeached, the motion will go to the Constitutional Court where it has six months to decide on whether to uphold the motion.

The vote is set to take place Saturday around 4 p.m. local time, which is 2 a.m. Eastern.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.