South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol has been removed from office over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law
South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol has been removed from office over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law.
Mr Suk-Yeol was impeached by the National Assembly on Saturday in a move that plunged South Korea into a political turmoil halfway through his presidency.
The country’s unicameral National Assembly voted 204 to 85 during a sitting to impeach Mr Suk-Yeol.
It’s the second of such votes by the 300 members of the assembly who cast their ballots in eight days.
Three members of the assembly abstained and eight votes were declared invalid.
Mr Suk-Yeol’s conservative People Power Party provided crucial votes backing his impeachment.
The vote was done by secret ballot with two-thirds of the votes required for Mr Suk-Yeol’s impeachment.
Following his impeachment, Mr Suk-Yeol was automatically suspended from office, while South Korea’s constitutional court deliberated his fate.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over as the interim president.
Mr Duck-soo vowed to devote his strength and efforts to ensure stable governance.
Mr Suk-Yeol said the political impasse was yet over, vowing to fight his “case before the court.”
He remained unapologetic and defiant as the martial law imposition was denied.
The constitutional court has 180 days to rule on Mr Suk-Yeol’s future, and if it backs his removal, he would become South Korea’s second president in history to be successfully impeached from office.
Park Geun-hye, another conservative president, was impeached in December 2016.
Mr Geun-hye was finally removed from the office in March 2017.
