South Korea’s parliament has formally introduced a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol over a botched attempt to impose martial law, but his party has vowed to oppose the move, throwing the process into doubt.

MPs could vote for the bill as early as Friday but Yoon’s ruling People Power Party said they would oppose it.

The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, needs at least eight ruling party MPs to back the bill in order for it to pass.

“The Yoon Suk-yeol regime’s declaration of emergency martial law caused great confusion and fear among our people,” Democratic Party MP Kim Seung-won told a late night session of South Korea’s National Assembly, held in the early hours of Thursday morning.

None of the 108 ruling party MPs were present for the introduction of the motion.

“We need to immediately suspend the authority of President Yoon. He has committed an indelible, historic crime against the people, whose anxiety needs to be soothed so that they can return to their daily lives,” Kim said.

If the impeachment motion is passed and upheld by the constitutional court, Yoon would be the second South Korean president to have been impeached since massive candlelit protests against an influence-peddling scandal led to the removal of former president Park Geun-hye in 2017.

Yoon’s declaration of martial law late on Tuesday attempted to ban political activity and censor the media in South Korea, which has Asia’s fourth largest economy and is a key US ally.

The shock move divided Yoon’s ministers and his ruling People Power Party and unleashed six hours of political chaos.

Armed troops forced their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul but stood back when parliamentary aides sprayed them with fire extinguishers.

MPs rejected the martial law decision while protesters scuffled with police outside.

Turmoil sparks global backlash

Yoon faced immediate international diplomatic fallout after his botched attempt to impose martial law.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was due to hold a summit with Yoon this week, will skip the scheduled visit.

“Given the recent developments, we have decided to postpone the visit,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

The United States, South Korea’s main ally, indefinitely postponed meetings of the Nuclear Consultative Group and related tabletop military exercises, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The NCG is a signature Yoon effort aimed at having South Korea play a greater role in allied planning for potential nuclear war on the peninsula.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea and it was not immediately clear if other joint military exercises would be affected.

A spokesperson for US Forces-Korea did not respond to a request for comment.

The US and South Korean militaries were “in contact”, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding there was no request for assistance from Seoul amid the unfolding events.

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told a news briefing he also did not believe the martial law declaration had any significant impact on the US troops, some of whom work in combined commands with the South Korean military.

A White House spokesperson earlier said the US was not notified in advance of Yoon’s announcement and added: “We are seriously concerned by the developments we are seeing on the ground.”

The martial law declaration cast doubts over a possible visit next week by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance was monitoring the current situation in South Korea, but added that its relationship with Seoul “was ironclad”.

South Korea’s political situation is an “internal matter” for the country, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters.

Japanese media reported he was due to meet South Korean and Japanese counterparts as part of trilateral efforts championed by Yoon.

Japan’s parliamentary group on Korean affairs led by former premier Yoshihide Suga cancelled a Seoul visit slated for mid-December, according to Akihisa Nagashima, a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister who was due to travel with the group.

“The turmoil in South Korea’s domestic politics since last night continues to be alarming,” Nagashima wrote in a post on X.

“It is a tense situation in which the fate of the Yoon administration must be closely watched to see whether it will be able to overcome the fierce public opposition.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier told reporters Tokyo was monitoring the situation “with particular and grave interest”.

Duyeon Kim of the Center for a New American Security said Yoon’s international reputation as a symbol of democracy had been ruined.

“The fate of Yoon’s foreign policies remains uncertain and even bleak,” she said.