A National Assembly petition demanding President Lee Jae Myung’s impeachment surpassed 100,000 signatures within just two days as of Sunday. Under Assembly rules, any petition gathering at least 50,000 signatures within 30 days automatically advances to a relevant standing committee. Consequently, the impeachment petition now qualifies for formal committee review and a potential referral to the full plenary session. Nevertheless, political analysts widely consider actual impeachment an unlikely outcome given current parliamentary arithmetic.
The petitioner argued that Lee cannot appropriately fulfill presidential duties while simultaneously standing trial in multiple serious criminal cases. Those cases include allegations tied to a property development scandal and alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act. Furthermore, the petitioner claimed Lee’s dual role as sitting president and criminal defendant creates a direct institutional conflict between executive authority and judicial proceedings. All of Lee’s ongoing trials were suspended shortly after his inauguration in June 2025.
Despite the petition’s rapid momentum, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s parliamentary dominance makes impeachment procedurally very difficult to achieve. The party currently holds 161 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats. In contrast, the main opposition People Power Party holds only 110 seats. Moreover, South Korea’s constitution requires any impeachment motion to gain approval from at least 200 lawmakers, representing a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority threshold.
That constitutional requirement means opposition parties would need substantial support from ruling party lawmakers to succeed. Additionally, the ruling party has shown no public indication of willingness to support action against its own president. Therefore, even though the impeachment petition clears the procedural threshold, translating public sentiment into a parliamentary outcome remains extremely unlikely under current conditions.
Going forward, the petition nonetheless carries symbolic and political significance beyond its immediate legislative prospects. Indeed, surpassing 100,000 signatures in under 48 hours signals considerable public concern about Lee’s legal situation and fitness for office. Furthermore, the ongoing criminal trials, though currently suspended, could reignite political pressure depending on how judicial proceedings develop after the suspension period eventually ends.
