South Korean President Impeached

The Speaker of the South Korean National Assembly has just announced that up to 204 lawmakers voted in favor of impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law, according to Reuters.

The 200 votes needed for the impeachment motion to pass, Reuters reported today, citing South Korean media, said the PPP had decided to maintain its official stance of voting against the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, but would not boycott the impeachment vote.

People take part in a protest calling for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on a street near the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 14.

The first attempt to impeach Mr Yoon on December 7 last week failed after almost all lawmakers from Mr Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote.

According to Yonhap, the new petition has made changes to the first one, deleting some of the allegations against Mr. Yoon but adding others, including that the president ordered the military and police to arrest lawmakers while martial law was in effect.

After the impeachment motion is passed, Mr. Yoon will be suspended from office and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will take over as acting president, according to AFP. The Constitutional Court will then have 180 days to rule on Mr. Yoon's future.

All 300 South Korean lawmakers participated in the vote. Of these, 204 voted to impeach the president on charges of rebellion, while 85 voted against, three abstained, and eight votes were invalidated, according to AFP.

South Korea's opposition said the passing of the impeachment motion against Mr. Yoon was a "victory of the people."

A Seoul police official earlier told AFP that at least 200,000 people had gathered outside the National Assembly building in support of the president's impeachment.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun Square, police estimated 30,000 people gathered to support Mr. Yoon.

Mr Yoon shocked the nation late on December 3 when he gave the military full emergency powers to eliminate what he called “anti-state forces”.

He later apologized to the nation but also defended his decision and resisted calls for his resignation ahead of the vote.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quoc-hoi-han-quoc-thong-qua-kien-nghi-luan-toi-tong-thong-yoon-suk-yeol-185241214151352662.htm