Thousands on the streets of Seoul are celebrating after South Korean MPs voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon has been suspended while the prime minister is serving as acting president. The constitutional court now has six months to decide whether to sustain his impeachment
In dramatic scenes at the national assembly in Seoul, 204 lawmakers voted for an opposition motion to impeach Yoon, while an estimated 200,000 protesters outside demanded he be thrown out of office.
Saturday was the second opportunity in a week the assembly’s lawmakers had to begin the process of ousting Yoon, whose approval ratings have plummeted to 11%.
To succeed, the opposition parties, which together control 192 seats, needed at least eight members of Yoon’s People Power party, PPP, to vote in favour to reach the required two-thirds majority of 200 in the 300-seat chamber.
In the end, 12 PPP members were willing to throw their support behind impeachment.
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South Korean TV said 85 MPs had voted against, while three ballots were spoilt and eight were ruled invalid. Huge cheers erupted outside the chamber as the results were announced, and MPs left to applause from onlookers.
Yoon, who was immediately suspended, called on South Koreans to support the acting president, Han Duck-soo, but vowed to continue fighting for his political future as the impeachment process enters its next stage.
“Although I am stopping for now, the journey I have walked with the people over the past two and a half years toward the future must never come to a halt. I will never give up,” Yoon said in a televised address.
Han promised to ensure stability after Yoon’s impeachment. “I will give all my strength and efforts to stabilise the government,” he told reporters.
The spotlight will now move to the country’s constitutional court, whose six justices must vote unanimously in favour to uphold parliament’s decision.
Yoon will now be suspended from office while the court deliberates. It has 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future. If it approves the motion, South Koreans must elect a new president within 60 days of its ruling.
BBC.com
