Sawt Falasteen - South Korea president close to averting impeachment

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 and cast their votes "to protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy".

"I say once again: Please participate in the vote," he said, adding that it was "our fundamental duty" as lawmakers.

Opposition legislators attempted to complain to the PPP's leadership and convince lawmakers to vote, but were rebuffed by party officials, resulting in chaotic scenes in the corridors of the parliament building.

The probable outcome is likely to infuriate 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.

Some protesters went home, but others stayed, dancing to K-pop tunes near the assembly in a show of support.

"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. I'd like to tell ruling MPs this: Please do your freaking job," she told AFP.

Across town, thousands of pro-Yoon protesters gathered for a rally in Seoul's main square.

- Apology -

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 Dong-hoon -- who was allegedly on an arrest list on Tuesday night -- saying Yoon must go.

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

For the PPP "they will most likely lose whatever popularity they might have among the younger people (especially) from the Seoul metropolitan area, for example. In the end, they lose more than they win."

- 'Betrayal and anger' -

If the motion does still pass, Yoon would be suspended from duties pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Yoon's failure to step down "only exacerbates the sense of betrayal and anger among the citizens", Lee said, adding the only solution was "the immediate resignation of the president or an early departure through impeachment".

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

"The public will not forgive him," 63-year-old retiree Lee Wan-pyo told AFP at Seoul's main train station before the vote.

"I just want him to step down," said Han Jeong-hwa, a 70-year-old housewife.

- Detain politicians? -

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".

burs-stu/ceb/mtp

T.Khatib--SF-PST