South Korean Leader’s Deal to Avoid Impeachment Risks Bigger Turmoil

The failure by South Korea’s opposition parties on Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol for issuing his country’s first declaration of martial law in more than four decades set the stage for prolonged political uncertainty and turmoil in one of Washington’s most important allies.

Pressure for Mr. Yoon’s impeachment had been building since that abrupt decision on Tuesday night, when he sent special forces troops to seize the National Assembly. He was forced to rescind martial law a few hours later, after the Assembly voted against it. But the extraordinary drama briefly raised the specter that military rule would return to South Korea and propelled people onto the streets in protest. Public surveys showed that more than 70 percent of South Koreans wanted Mr. Yoon’s impeachment.

A huge letdown was in store for them.

In a move that is bound to deepen the nation’s political polarization, Mr. Yoon worked out a last-minute deal with his People Power Party, or P.P.P. The party ordered its lawmakers to boycott the voting, denying the Assembly the two-thirds quorum needed to make the vote valid.

The deal was a gamble that risks expanding public anger beyond Mr. Yoon to the party as a whole, as the opposition called the party a “collaborator in his insurrection.” People gathering outside the Assembly seethed with frustration, signaling protracted political upheaval that will handicap Mr. Yoon’s already weakened ability to govern.

“His tactic worked, but only for now,” said Ahn Byong-jin, a professor of political science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. “The people’s protest will only intensify. I don’t think this will end any time soon.”