SEOUL(South Korea): South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been impeached by the National Assembly over his attempt to impose martial law in the country, Al Jazeera reported. The members of the unicameral National Assembly on Saturday voted 204 to 85 to impeach South Korea’s President, the second such vote in eight days.
Three members of the National Assembly abstained from voting while eight votes were declared invalid. The voting was conducted through secret ballot, with two-thirds of the vote needed for impeachment. All 300 members of the assembly cast their vote.
Audible gasps were heard from the chamber after the result of voting was announced. Thousands of protesters, gathered outside the assembly, welcomed the announcement with applause and loud cheers. The political impasse in South Korea has not ended yet as Yoon “has vowed to fight” his case before the court, Al Jazeera reported.
After his impeachment, Yoon was suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates his fate. South Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is taking over as the interim president, according to Al Jazeera report.
In a statement, Han vowed that he “will devote all my strength and efforts to ensure stable governance.” The Constitutional Court will have 180 days to take decision on Yoon Suk Yeol’s future.
If the court supports Yoon’s removal, he would become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached. In 2016, then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached and was removed from office in March 2017.
Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) had boycotted the first impeachment vote which took place last week. Since then, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon had urged party leaders to cast vote, even though official stance of PPP rejects impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol.
Before the voting started, at least seven PPP members said they would vote to impeach Yoon, implying that only one more vote was needed to reach the 200 necessary for impeachment of South Korea’s President. Hours before the impeachment vote, an estimated 200,000 people took to the streets in Seoul, in rival rallies for and against Yoon.
At the opening of the National Assembly meeting, assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said that “the weight of history” was in the hands of the assembly members. The floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, Park Chan-dae, said, “Yoon is the ringleader of the insurrection”.
He called impeachment vote the “only way” to “safeguard the constitution” of South Korea. Yoon has remained unapologetic and defiant for his decision on imposing martial law and a probe into his inner circle widened, Al Jazeera report.
According to a Gallup Korea poll released on Friday, Yoon’s approval rating has reduced to 11 per cent. An earlier survey conducted in November showed him having an approval rating of 19 per cent. The survey was conducted just before the imposition of martial law. According to the same poll, 75 per cent of the people now back his impeachment. (ANI)