South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol impeached by parliament after botched martial law bid

In a major turn of events South Korean National Assembly voted to impeach the country’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, after failing to do so in the first attempt. The second round of impeachment voting took place on Saturday, days after Yoon’s botched martial law bid rattled the country.

According to South Korean Agency Yonhap, 204 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion which was floated in the national assembly for the second time. In the first attempt, lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party staged a walkout in support of the president. However, in the latest attempt, more than eight lawmakers agreed to cross the aisle and support the opposition’s bid.

While 204 lawmakers supported the motion, 85 lawmakers opposed it and three lawmakers abstained from voting. According to Yonhap, the parliament also saw eight invalid ballots. With the Saturday voting Yoon’s presidential powers and duties are now suspended.

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What happens next?

Copies of a document on the impeachment were delivered to Yoon and to the Constitutional Court shortly after the voting. The court will now have up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers. If he is thrown out of office, the national election will be held within 60 days to choose his successor.

Until then, the country will be led by Prime Minister Han Dong-hoon. However, the court is facing its own share of challenges. The South Korean Constitutional Court has three vacancies, with just six judges in office. In usual circumstances, the court needs at least seven justices to make a decision on this matter. However, recently, one of the judges told the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper on Thursday that a unanimous decision among the six might be held under a recent rule change. The whole matter is still subject to debate.

There are two ways the case might play out in the court:

1. The court finds no grounds to impeach the president

If the Constitutional Court decides that it will not impeach the president, Yoon will be reinstated in office.

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2. If the court agrees with the lawmakers

In this situation, Yoon will be impeached and PM Han will take over as the country’s acting president. As soon as this happens, Han will once again have 60 days to call for fresh elections in the country.

The country welcomes the impeachment

Before the voting on the impeachment motion even began, thousands of people rallied outside the South Korean National Assembly demanding Yoon’s removal. According to BBC, protesters belted out a traditional, labour anthem “March for Our Beloved”. The tune was written back in 1981 to commemorate democratic activists who were killed during the Gwangju protests in 1980.

Protesters also sang “Into the New World” by K-pop girl band SNSD, which became a national protest anthem during the 2016 impeachment proceedings of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The moment the results were announced, cheers erupted within the National Assembly as the Democratic Party celebrated the success of the impeachment motion.

During the vote count, some ruling party lawmakers were seen clasping their hands in prayer, BBC reported. While declaring the results, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-Shik celebrated the move. “To the people, we hope your end of year will be a little happier now, and all your cancelled year-end celebrations to be restored,” he said.

“The future of the Republic of Korea and our hope is in the hands of the people, our hope is strong. Thank you very much,” he said as he ended the session.