South Korea's National Assembly commenced a crucial vote on President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The ruling People Power Party said that the party's official stance is to vote against the opposition-led motion to impeach the current president over the conservative president's controversial imposition of martial law on Dec. 3. A presidential impeachment motion requires 200 votes out of a possible 300 to pass.

The decision, announced by Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the PPP's new floor leader, came after more than five hours of intense debate during the general meeting of the party's lawmakers over whether they should change or maintain the current stance of voting against the impeachment motion.

The lawmakers were heavily divided on the matter, with most of the pro-Yoon faction within the party claiming that they should all vote against the motion, while others pushed for changing the party's stance.

All but three of the 108 ruling party lawmakers boycotted the first impeachment vote against Yoon on Dec. 7, which led to the motion being automatically rejected, as it fell short of the required 200-vote quorum. The National Assembly here is a single chamber, 300-member parliament.

Kweon proposed early in the meeting for the ruling party lawmakers to participate in the vote, People Power Party Rep. Kwon Young-se told reporters around noon.

People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon in recent days has called for the party to adopt a stance of voting in favor of Yoon's impeachment motion.

The opposition coalition currently holds 192 of the total 300 seats. It would need at least eight defections from the People Power Party for the motion to pass the Assembly.

Main opposition leader and Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-myung warned the ruling party lawmakers that not participating in the vote or voting against the impeachment motion will be "recorded in history" and would be a move for which "they will have to bear responsibility forever."