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South Korean lawmakers voted on Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol following a short-lived declaration of martial law.
With his impeachment, Yoon is automatically suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates his fate.
His presidential powers will formally be suspended once he is served with a copy of the impeachment resolution.
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Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will take over as acting president while the country’s Constitutional Court takes up the matter.
The Constitutional Court would have 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future. If it backs his removal, Yoon would become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.
A dozen members of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party joined opposition lawmakers to pass the threshold of 200 votes, which was two-thirds of the legislators required for his impeachment.
The final vote was 204 to 85.
Outside the National Assembly, loud cheers washed over a large crowd of pro-impeachment protesters, some of whom had set up free coffee and food stalls for fellow participants.
“This is a triumph of democracy and of the South Korean people,” Park Chan-dae, the opposition party floor leader, said after the vote.
South Korea’s parliament on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his stunning and short-lived martial law decree, a move that ended days of political paralysis but set up an intense debate over Yoon’s fate, as jubilant crowds roared to celebrate another defiant moment in the country’s resilient democracy.
The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85. Yoon’s presidential powers and duties were subsequently suspended and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s No. 2 official, took over presidential powers later Saturday.
The Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers. If he’s thrown out of office, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
It was the second National Assembly vote on Yoon’s impeachment after ruling party lawmakers boycotted the first floor vote last Saturday. Some People Power Party lawmakers had since said they would vote for Yoon’s impeachment as public protests intensified and his approval rating plummeted.
