President Yoon Suk Yeol waves to crowds during the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Korea Freedom Federation in Incheon, Thursday. Yonhap

An online petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol has secured more than 1 million approvals just two weeks after its posting on the National Assembly's website, gaining increased political attention to whether it will bring tangible outcomes.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other opposition parties are using this public sentiment to boost its criticisms against the administration, but it has not been making tangible legislative actions so far, apparently reflecting on the precedents of impeaching or attempting to impeach former presidents.

The petition, which calls for the Assembly to table an impeachment motion for Yoon, surpassed the 1 million mark as of Wednesday, after gaining a daily average of 100,000 signatures since it was posted on the Assembly's public petition website on June 20.

As of noon on Sunday, the number of approvals surpassed 1.26 million.

The post, which was posted by Kwon Oh-hyeok, secretary general of progressive civic group Candlelight Action, claimed that South Korea is facing an "omnishambles after President Yoon's inauguration," citing the heightening tensions between the two Koreas, Yoon's vetoes on special counsel probes for major political cases and the worsening economic environment.

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Kang Deuk-gu, center, and members of civic group Candlelight Action call for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

A National Assembly committee is obliged to review a petition that gains more than 50,000 approvals in 30 days after being uploaded to the website. Due to this, the petition was already handed over to the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on June 24.

The committee is headed by DPK Rep. Jung Chung-rae, and its subcommittee which will review the petition is comprised of four DPK lawmakers and one ruling People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker. This means that the DPK can send it unilaterally to the Assembly's plenary session.

Through the petition process, the National Assembly in 2020 legislated a revision to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, better known as "Nth Room case prevention law," which refers to a string of criminal sexual exploitation cases that were committed through Telegram chatroom groups.

The DPK is seeing the number of approvals as showcasing the growing public disappointment in Yoon.

"Even though the people have reprimanded the administration, the president is not budging at all, resulting in more than 1 million citizens joining the impeachment petition in just two weeks," DPK floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae said in a DPK Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday.

Park also said during the party lawmakers' meeting that "the presidential office is looking down on the impeachment calls by saying that they do not believe impeachment is possible unless there is a clear violation of the law."

Though Park and other DPK lawmakers were drumming up the growing negative sentiment against the president, they are refraining from clearly stating what the party's next step will be.

DPK spokesperson Rep. Kang Yu-jung told reporters that "the party humbly accepts the 1 million petitioners' demands" and the "legislation committee will thoroughly review the petition," adding there could be a hearing if necessary.

However, Kang stressed that the hearing, even if it takes place, will be "a procedure required for the committee, not the party's response to the petitions."

Lawmakers tussle as an impeachment motion against then-President Roh Moo-hyun passes during a National Assembly plenary session in Yeouido, Seoul, March 12, 2004. Yonhap

Prudent approach

The DPK is taking a prudent approach to this issue because of the difficulties of actually impeaching a serving president and possible political and public backlash if the impeachment bid fails.

Korean laws stipulate that a motion on impeaching a serving president can be tabled at the Assembly when more than half of registered lawmakers propose it, and can pass the Assembly when more than two-thirds of registered lawmakers approve it.

Currently, the DPK holds 175 out of the Assembly's 300 seats, while the PPP has 108. This means that the main opposition is able to table an impeachment motion unilaterally, but needs approvals from at least eight PPP lawmakers even if all minor opposition lawmakers endorse the impeachment.

When it passes the Assembly, the motion will be sent to the Constitutional Court, which then has 180 days to hand down its ruling. In doing so, the chairman of the Assembly's legislation committee will act as a prosecutor while being assisted by a group of lawyers.

In previous impeachment cases, the Constitution Court has been focusing on whether the individual facing impeachment has committed illegalities that threaten the Constitution.

In the latest case, the court on July 25 last year ruled unanimously against the Assembly's vote to impeach Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min for his response to a 2022 deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, saying there was "no significant violation of the Constitution or relevant laws that can justify the impeachment."

A similar rationale can be observed in the impeachment case of former President Roh Moo-hyun.

In May 2004, the court turned down the impeachment motion on Roh, saying "the president's acts of violating laws do not bear significance in the perspective of safeguarding the Constitution, and there is no ground to justify the impeachment."

At the time, the Assembly attempted to impeach Roh for his remarks during a Feb. 24 press conference, during which he said "I expect voters to show overwhelming support to the Uri Party." The Uri Party was a breakaway party from the liberal Millennium Democratic Party from which Roh was elected as president. The Millennium Democratic Party and the conservative Hannara Party viewed the remark as violating the president's duty to keep political neutrality.

Lee Jung-mi, then-acting chief justice of the Constitutional Court, reads the court's ruling upholding the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye at the court in Jongno District, Seoul, March 10, 2017. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seog

On the other hand, when the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment motion of former President Park Geun-hye in March 2017, it cited that her corruption allegations were equivalent to "betrayal of the trust of the people" and "must be regarded as serious violations of the law that cannot be tolerated from the perspective of upholding the Constitution."

The previous cases showed that the Constitutional Court upholds an impeachment when there are risks of actual damage to the constitutional order, not just law violations. This means that the DPK, if it seeks to table an impeachment motion against Yoon, needs to verify that Yoon has actually committed serious enough illegalities.

"We do recognize public sentiment against the president and mounting calls for the impeachment, but passing an impeachment motion and having it upheld by the Constitutional Court are different matters," a DPK official said on condition of anonymity. "It should entail proper legal grounds, and come after thorough reviews at the legislation committee."

Citizens hold candles at a rally in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, March 20, 2004, to protest the National Assembly's impeachment motion against then-President Roh Moo-hyun. Korea Times file

Public consent

The political and public backlash that may come in case the impeachment bid fails are another reason the DPK remains cautious.

Though the petition gained more than 1 million approvals, it remains unclear whether this can be interpreted as the people's consent on the impeachment or a display of extreme political division among the public.

An official at the presidential office said, "If the number (of approvals) matters the most, that means former President Moon Jae-in, against whom 1.46 million people petitioned, also should have been impeached."

PPP Rep. Sung Il-jong also said Thursday, "We have to ask whether the petition (against Yoon), which is led by an activist who was convicted for violating the National Security Act, truly represents the people's sentiment."

An online petition posted on February 2020 on a website run by then-presidential office Cheong Wa Dae received more than 1.4 million approvals. At the time, Cheong Wa Dae gave answers to petitions that gained more than 200,000 approvals within 30 days, and the office briefly said it could not answer the petition because that was the role of the Assembly.

The attempt to impeach former President Roh came with a political backlash, as it had not secured widespread public support. After the Assembly passed the motion in March 2004, the public sentiment turned against the opposition parties, with massive candlelit rallies taking place across the nation, denouncing the parties for attempting impeachment without proper legal grounds.

This resulted in Roh's Uri Party clinching a landslide victory in general elections a month later, with opposition heavyweights who pushed the impeachment attempt losing their Assembly seats.

Former Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Moon Jae-in, center, holds a candle during a rally demanding then-President Park Geun-hye's resignation in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Nov. 12, 2016. Courtesy of Moon Jae-in

On the other hand, former President Park's impeachment in 2017 came after massive public rallies calling for the president to step down. The impeachment resulted in the then-opposition's frontrunner Moon to take office in the presidential election in May that year.

"Public sentiment does not determine the outcome of an impeachment judgment, but it is clear that public consent and proper legal grounds are the most important preconditions," the DPK official said. "Political processes should be the tool for that."