A motion to impeach South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol was on the brink of failing on Saturday after lawmakers from his ruling party boycotted the ballot despite huge protests outside parliament.

Mr Yoon stunned the nation and the international community on Tuesday night when he suspended civilian rule and sent troops to parliament but was forced into a U-turn after lawmakers stopped his decree.

Opposition parties, which hold 192 seats in the 300-seat parliament, filed the impeachment motion and went to a vote. The motion needed 200 votes to pass.

But almost all 108 members of Mr Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) filed out of the chamber before the vote, prompting critical shouts from the opposition, with one yelling “where are you going?” and others calling them “accomplices to insurrection”.

Only three PPP members cast ballots.

Woo Won-shik, the speaker of the national assembly, stopped short of calling the result, appealing to the rest of the PPP lawmakers to return “to protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy”.

The probable outcome is likely to enrage crowds – nearly 150,000 people according to police and a million according to organisers – demonstrating outside parliament for Mr Yoon’s impeachment.

Demonstrators booed while some sighed and wept in frustration as the ruling party lawmakers walked out of the chamber. Some protesters went home.

Jo Ah-gyeong, 30, told AFP: “Even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted today, I am neither discouraged nor disappointed because we will get it eventually.

“I’ll keep coming here until we get it. I’d like to tell ruling MPs this: Please do your freaking job.”

Across town, thousands of pro-Yoon protesters gathered for a rally in Seoul’s main square.