SEOUL: South Korea’s parliament on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, suspending him from official duties following nationwide protests against his brief attempt to impose martial law.
The impeachment motion passed after at least 12 members of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party joined opposition lawmakers, who hold 192 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. The motion required a two-thirds majority and received 204 votes in favor, with 85 against, three abstentions, and eight invalid ballots.
Despite the suspension, Yoon remains in office. According to South Korea’s constitution, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, appointed by Yoon, will serve as acting president during the interim period.
The Constitutional Court will now review the impeachment and decide within six months whether to permanently remove Yoon from office. If six of the court’s nine judges support the motion, Yoon will be officially ousted. In that case, a snap presidential election will be held within 60 days of the court’s decision.
Yoon is the second consecutive conservative president to face impeachment in South Korea. Former President Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed from office in 2017.
Speaker Woo Won-shik addressed the assembly after the vote, saying, “The future of the Republic of Korea and our hope lies in the hands of the people. Our hope is strong. Thank you very much.”
This development follows an earlier failed attempt to impeach Yoon earlier in the week, which was blocked by a boycott from his People Power Party.
