South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach president

State crisis

South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach president

A first motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol failed in parliament. Now a second attempt receives the required two-thirds majority.

After briefly declaring martial law, South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol. A motion submitted by the opposition received the required two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

Yoon unexpectedly imposed martial law at the beginning of December in the midst of a budget dispute with the opposition, and he was heavily criticized for it. A first motion for impeachment failed a week ago after an almost complete boycott by the ruling party.

With the National Assembly’s decision, the president is relieved of his duties – at least for the time being. The 75-year-old Prime Minister Han Duck Soo will take over his duties on an interim basis. In an initial reaction, he promised to do everything he could to ensure that state affairs ran smoothly.

In the National Assembly, 204 of the 300 deputies voted for Yoon’s impeachment, while 85 voted against it. There were also three abstentions and eight invalid votes.

Despite freezing temperatures, around 200,000 demonstrators called for Yoon’s impeachment in front of parliament. According to police estimates, around 30,000 Yoon supporters also gathered in the center of the capital Seoul.

The Constitutional Court must now make a final decision on Yoon’s removal from office within 180 days at the latest. It can either confirm this or declare it unconstitutional.

Currently only six of the nine judge positions in the Constitutional Court are filled. If there are no new nominations before the decision is made, a single dissenting vote would be enough to overturn Yoon’s impeachment. In this case, the 63-year-old would get his presidential position back.

Yoon unexpectedly imposed martial law on Tuesday last week, plunging his country into a deep state crisis. For example, Yoon ordered the military to seal off the National Assembly. Nevertheless, a total of 190 MPs managed to gain access to the plenary hall and vote unanimously against the martial law decision. Numerous citizens also took to the streets to protest against Yoon’s actions. Within hours, Yoon lifted martial law.

On Thursday, the conservative politician defended his decision during a television speech that was called at short notice. He declared martial law to protect the nation, Yoon said. His political opponents are “anti-state forces” that would paralyze government work and disrupt the country’s constitutional order.

Recently, Yoon’s popularity ratings had fallen to a record low. According to a poll published on Friday by the Gallup polling institute, only around eleven percent of all South Koreans would support their president.