South Korea’s parliament impeached acting president Han Duck Soo on Friday, just two weeks after similarly punishing president Yoon Suk Yeol for briefly declaring martial law earlier this month.
“I announce that prime minister Han Duck Soo’s impeachment motion has passed,” the National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik said following a chaotic voting session. “Out of the 192 lawmakers who voted, 192 voted to impeach.”
The National Assembly has 300 members and the motion needed 151 votes to pass.
Tensions ran high in the National Assembly as lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party protested against the impeachment process. They objected to the speaker’s ruling that a simple majority of 151 votes was required to impeach Mr Han and not 200 as was the case for Mr Yoon.
The opposition had argued that a simple majority was needed to impeach Mr Han as this is the threshold for a cabinet member. The ruling party, however, contended that a two-thirds majority was necessary since Mr Han was now acting as president.
Most of them boycotted the vote and gathered in the chamber to chant “invalid” and “abuse of power” while calling for the speaker’s resignation.
Mr Han, the prime minister who took over as acting president after Mr Yoon was impeached and suspended from office, was accused by the opposition of “actively participating in the insurrection” and of failing to finalise his predecessor’s impeachment process.
“The only way to normalise the country is to swiftly root out all the insurrection forces,” opposition leader Lee Jae Myung said ahead of the vote.
The failure of Mr Han to approve three judges nominated by the National Assembly to fill vacancies on the Constitutional Court further inflamed tensions with the opposition Democratic Party, which had warned him of impeachment if the appointments weren’t made.
The Constitutional Court, which is preparing to rule on Mr Yoon’s impeachment by the parliament, currently has only six judges instead of nine. For Mr Yoon’s impeachment to be upheld, a total of six judges must approve it, leaving the outcome precariously dependent on unanimous agreement in the absence of a full bench. One dissent could save the president from permanent removal from office.
Choi Sang Mok, the finance minister, will assume the acting presidency now. Mr Choi had cautioned lawmakers against going ahead with the impeachment of Mr Han, warning that it could damage the economy given the already fragile political situation.
The impeachment of the president and the acting president in less than a month has thrown South Korea into unprecedented political turmoil.
Mr Yoon has avoided questioning over the rebellion charges brought against him for declaring martial law, and blocked investigations into his office.
The impasse between Mr Yoon’s conservative party and the liberal opposition has stalled governance in South Korea, disrupted diplomacy, and unsettled financial markets.
