South Korean parliament has impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over martial law bid. South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday following his failed attempt to impose martial law last week. Of the 300 lawmakers, 204 voted in favor of impeachment on insurrection charges, 85 voted against it, three lawmakers abstained, and eight votes were nullified.
The impeachment motion charged Yoon with orchestrating a string of riots and threatening the National Assembly and the public to consolidate power. The suspension of Yoon’s presidential duties has resulted in Prime Minister Han Duck-soo being the acting president.
The next step in the process now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has up to 180 days to decide whether the impeachment should be upheld. If the Court affirms the decision to remove Yoon as president, he would become only the second president to be successfully impeached since South Korea’s founding. Within 60 days, the decision would also trigger a presidential election.
The impeachment vote comes at a time when South Korea is experiencing intense political turbulence. Under President Yoon, South Korea has a record-low approval rating of 11%. Widespread protests in Seoul, the capital, have thousands of citizens calling for his immediate resignation and arrest.
In a bid to control the escalating tensions, the metropolitan government of Seoul has deployed more than 1,000 safety personnel to help control the raging mobs in their large-scale protests.
