Seoul:
As South Korean lawmakers attempted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law, ruling party MPs marched out of the chamber to thwart the effort – with the exception of Ahn Cheol-soo.
Ahn – a self-made multi-millionaire, trained doctor and software designer – sat alone in his party's bench in the National Assembly debate hall, one of only two members of the ruling People Power Party who voted to remove Yoon from office.
Despite tens of thousands of protesters outside demanding the leader's ouster after he sent soldiers in helicopters to parliament in an attempt to overthrow the civilian regime, the impeachment motion failed as a quorum was not met.
Days earlier, lawmakers from both parties had gathered, jumping fences, barricading doors with office furniture and battling special forces troops as they rushed to reject the declaration of martial law.
But then the ruling party closed ranks, saying Yoon had promised to resign and hand power to the prime minister and party chief, in what the opposition has called an unconstitutional power grab and a “second coup.”
Ahn said he was booed and heckled at a party meeting when he tried to argue with other lawmakers that the president should be held accountable.
“The idea that a president responsible for enforcing the constitution of the world's 10th largest economy would stage an unconstitutional coup defies imagination,” Ahn told AFP on Monday in his parliamentary office overlooking the National Assembly.
“Who could have foreseen that as president he would commit such an unconstitutional act?”
Always unpopular, Yoon's approval rating has reached a record low of just 11 percent, a Gallup poll showed Monday. More mass protests are expected next weekend, when the opposition will again try to announce impeachment proceedings.
A “sense of duty” to uphold constitutional order weighed heavily on him as he considered how to vote, Ahn told AFP.
“I have always believed that my role in politics is to represent the will of the people, and not my own personal interests. That is why I have stayed to cast my vote.”
'I did not vote for the opposition party. I voted for the people
Presidential candidate
Ahn himself had ambitions to become president: he ran for office in 2022, but dropped out and supported Yoon just a week before the election, with his support proving crucial in the neck-and-neck poll, which won Yoon by the narrowest margin South Korea won. history.
His party merged with the PPP, but Ahn is now at odds with his parliamentary colleagues, who are officially calling for an “orderly exit” for Yoon – but in reality experts say, in an effort to buy time before the election. will probably lose.
The PPP blocked the impeachment proceedings, saying Yoon had agreed to resign at an unspecified point in the future, with the country to be governed by the prime minister and party chief in the meantime.
But Ahn insists this is insufficient.
“I had expected Yoon to announce when and how he would step down and elaborate plans for the formation of a joint governing body with ruling and opposition parties,” he told AFP.
“Instead, he handed everything over to the ruling party,” he said.
Without a clear roadmap from the president or his party, “I concluded that I had no choice but to support impeachment.”
Ahn said he would vote for impeachment again.
“Under the Constitution, every Member of Parliament is a constitutional agent. Voting according to conscience, even if it conflicts with the official position of the party, takes precedence.”
Yoon has lost the trust not only of the South Korean public but also of international allies, making him “unable to continue his duties as president,” Ahn said.
“He must personally explain when and how he plans to resign.”
Household name
Ahn is a household name in South Korea and was widely known before entering politics in 2012 with his first presidential bid.
As a medical student in the 1980s, he wrote a program to remove a virus from his computer and pursued a parallel career as a software developer, doctor and professor.
In 1995, he founded AhnLab, now the largest antivirus software company in South Korea, with a market capitalization of nearly $635 million.
He has run for president several times, but his 2022 bid has had the most impact.
Six days before the election, he endorsed Yoon — a move analysts described as crucial to Yoon's razor-thin victory margin of less than one percentage point.
If he had known then what he knows now, Ahn said, he wouldn't have done it.
“Not just me – others wouldn't have been able to vote for him if we had known this information.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
