South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol. 204 of the 300 MPs voted for the opposition’s motion. Members of the ruling PPP party also spoke out in favor of removing the president, who triggered a national crisis with his brief declaration of martial law last week. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will now take over presidential duties on an interim basis before the Constitutional Court makes the final decision. It can either confirm Yoon’s impeachment or declare it unconstitutional.
Yoon had to face impeachment proceedings for the second time in just a few days. A first motion failed last Saturday due to a quorum following an almost complete boycott by the ruling party. The necessary two-thirds majority was not achieved.
This time the chances were considered higher because, in addition to the 192 members of the opposition parties, seven members of the government party also wanted to approve the motion. At least eight members of the ruling PPP would be needed to get the required 200 out of a total of 300 votes. The chairman of the ruling party, Han Dong Hoon, also openly declared his support for the project on Thursday. Thousands of protesters gathered on the streets of Seoul as Parliament was in session.
The Democratic Party (DP), the largest opposition force, called on Yoon to resign after he unexpectedly imposed martial law on Tuesday last week and lifted it again hours later after massive resistance. Parliament voted to lift martial law. Not only the opposition DP, which has a majority in parliament, spoke in favor of it, but also Yoon’s own party, the conservative People Power Party (PPP). It was the first time that martial law was imposed in South Korea since 1980. As a result of the move, all political activities were briefly banned.
On Thursday, Yoon defended his decision during a short-term televised address. The president said he had declared martial law to protect the nation. His political opponents are “anti-state forces” that would paralyze government work and disrupt the country’s constitutional order.
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