The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced Thursday that an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol will be put to a vote on Saturday. The opposition-majority National Assembly seeks to hold Yoon accountable for what they describe as an act of insurrection following his brief martial law declaration earlier this week.

In the 300-member National Assembly, a motion to impeach a South Korean president requires at least 200 votes regardless of how many lawmakers are present at the session. Should the impeachment motion pass, Yoon would be immediately suspended from his position until the Constitutional Court's verdict. Yoon is now halfway through his five-year term that started in May 2022.

He is the third sitting president to face a parliamentary impeachment attempt. Impeachment motions against his predecessors — late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and former President Park Geun-hye in 2016 — were both passed by the Assembly. However, the Constitutional Court rejected Roh's removal while upholding Park's impeachment.

Under the National Assembly Act, the vote could technically be held as early as 12:48 a.m. Friday. A motion to impeach a South Korean president must undergo a secret vote between 24 and 72 hours after the motion is reported.

Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party, told reporters Thursday that the party plans to put the motion to vote at an extraordinary plenary session at around 7 p.m. Saturday, instead of rushing for a vote at the earliest time possible.

Jo said the party's decisions would provide the people and ruling party lawmakers with more time to deliberate whether Yoon's action amounts to an insurgency or attempted coup d'etat.

The Democratic Party also said the revoting session of the vetoed bill to allow a special counsel to investigate over a dozen allegations against first lady Kim Keon Hee including election intervention, influence peddling, stock price manipulation and graft, among others, will also take place in Saturday’s session.

A revote of the special counsel bill will require at least two-thirds of all lawmakers present at the session. The opposition party has already attempted to pass similar bills twice during Yoon's tenure, and both failed to override the veto.

The ruling People Power Party holds 108 parliamentary seats out of 300 at the National Assembly, as a result of the April general election.

The ruling party lawmakers' absence at Saturday's session, for example, could stop Yoon's impeachment motion from passing, at the cost of the passage of the special counsel bill on Yoon's wife.

In this vein, having the parliamentary vote on Yoon's impeachment motion and revoting session over special counsel against Yoon's wife in the same plenary session will reduce the chance of the ruling party's boycott of the session, Democratic Party spokesperson Rep. Noh Jong-myeon said Thursday.

Democratic Party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who was a presidential contender in the 2022 election, said the motion to impeach Yoon must be adopted at the voting session. He blasted Yoon for attempting to take control of the entire country "like a monarch."

Lee also called on the ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon to "courageously complete his mission" to encourage ruling party lawmakers to vote in favor of the motion.

On the same day, Han vowed to strike down the motion, amid infighting over whether Yoon should be impeached.

Han told reporters Thursday that he would do his best to block Yoon's impeachment motion to "prevent damage to the people and supporters" not prepared for the potential leadership vacuum in Seoul.

This was a follow-up to the party's decision to vote against Yoon's impeachment, reached at its emergency meeting Wednesday night.

While gearing for an impeachment bill, the main opposition party upped the ante by saying they would also push for a motion to name an independent prosecutor who would handle Yoon's case.

Concerning the independent prosecutor targeting Yoon, the Democratic Party unveiled plans to reach a resolution on Monday.

Under the Act on the Appointment of Independent Prosecutor, naming an independent prosecutor requires a National Assembly resolution and therefore is not subject to Yoon's veto.

Yoon remained silent as of press time Thursday. His office made a brief announcement Thursday morning that he had accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.