SEOUL – South Korea’s opposition-led parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday, voting to suspend him from his official duties over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
Under the constitution, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was appointed by Yoon, becomes the acting president.
PM Han Duk-soo said on Saturday that he would do his best to run the government stably after President Yoon’s impeachment.
Yoon is the second conservative president in a row to be impeached in South Korea after Park Geun-hye was removed from office in 2017.
The motion was carried after some members of Yoon’s People Power Party joined the opposition parties, which control 192 seats in the 300-member national assembly, clearing the two-thirds threshold needed for impeachment.
The number of lawmakers supporting impeachment was 204, with 85 against, three abstentions, and eight invalid ballots.
Although suspended, Yoon remains in office until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him sometime in the next six months.
If Yoon is removed from office, a snap election will be called.
Since December 3, South Korea has experienced a tumultuous series of events that have plunged the country into a political crisis. The situation was triggered by a shocking decision from President Yoon, who gave the military sweeping emergency powers to root out what he described as “anti-state forces” and to overcome political opposition that he deemed obstructive.
