The ruling People Power Party announced Thursday plans to vote against the motion filed to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law Tuesday in a surprise move.
The decision was made at an emergency party meeting held at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek, senior spokesperson of the ruling party, said the party's decision implies that the impeachment motion is "not acceptable."
The move suggests that, if all 108 ruling party lawmakers vote along the party line, the impeachment motion would fail to pass the plenary session of the parliament. In the 300-member National Assembly, a motion to impeach a president requires at least 200 votes.
But this does not necessarily indicate that the ruling party shows unbridled support for Yoon's short-lived martial law effective until Wednesday morning.
People Power Party chair Han Dong-hoon spoke with reporters on his way to an emergency party meeting at 10 p.m. He said that in a closed-door meeting earlier in the day with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and President Yoon Suk Yeol's Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk, he had expressed his position that Yoon Suk Yeol should leave the ruling party.
Han has struggled to narrow differences between party members over Yoon's departure.
The party chair was present at the meeting of representatives of the presidential office and Prime Minister Han at 2 p.m. as well as their meeting with Yoon at the presidential office at 5 p.m.
Earlier Wednesday, an official of the presidential office said on condition of anonymity that the meeting at the presidential office "did not revolve around Yoon's departure from the party."
Rep. Park Jeong-ha of the ruling People Power Party, chief secretary of Han, denied rumors Wednesday that Han had ditched his plan to push Yoon's resignation from the party after visiting the presidential office.
Rep. Han also told reporters that Yoon's declaration of martial law "cannot be seen as a warning shot."
The emergency party meeting, however, led to the conclusion Thursday that all ruling party lawmakers would vote against the motion to impeach Yoon.
Han did not comment on the motion to impeach Yoon, which the opposition party lawmakers filed Wednesday and reported to the National Assembly's plenary session Thursday, heralding a vote as early as Friday.
Following democratization, South Korean presidents Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun departed from their respective parties during their terms.
