The Parliament of South Korea approved this Saturday the impeachment motion presented against the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for declaring martial law, a measure that was revoked just hours later and that has caused an internal crisis in the country. .
The vote ended with 204 votes in favor of removing Yoon compared to 85 against. three abstentions and eight null votes, according to information from the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
This is the second motion put to a vote in the country’s National Assembly in a week. Last Saturday, The initiative did not obtain the majority necessary to move forward due to the rejection of Yoon’s party, the governmental People’s Power Party, which has 108 deputies.
For the measure to be approved, the support of 200 of the 300 deputies that make up Parliament was necessary – in the presence of more than half of the parliamentarians.
The EU calls for an “orderly solution”
The European Union has urged this Saturday to seek an “orderly and quick” solution to the political crisis that South Korea is going through hours after Parliament dismissed the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for declaring martial law in early December.
“We take note of the decision of the National Assembly to remove the president. It is important now to ensure an orderly resolution of the current political crisis in accordance with the Constitution”, The EU Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Anitta Hipper, indicated in a statement. Thus, he highlighted that South Korea is an “important strategic ally” for the community bloc.
The duties of Yoon, who announced martial law on December 3 in an unexpected speech to the nation in which he accused opposition deputies of sympathizing with North Korea, are now in the hands of Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, until the Constitutional Court rules on his dismissal.
The court has 180 days to do so and, according to the South Korean Constitution, it must endorse the measure for it to become effective.. To do this, six of a total of nine judges that make up the court must vote in favor – although there are currently three vacancies, so the remaining six must give their unanimous support to the dismissal.
Once the Constitutional Court gives its approval, early elections must be called within a period of 60 days. Thus, Yoon would become the second president in the country’s history – along with Park Geun Hye in 2016 – to be removed during his term.
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