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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the National Assembly after his failed attempt to impose martial law last week.
The opposition parties, which hold a majority in the legislature, needed the support of only eight of the 108 MPs from the president’s Power of the People party to secure the necessary two-thirds majority. The proposal was adopted by a margin of 204-85.
Yoon survived a recall bid last Saturday after lawmakers from his conservative PPP boycotted the vote. But the mood in the party began to turn against him on Thursday after a speech in which he lashed out at critics and vowed to “fight to the end”.
While the PPP’s official position was opposition to Yoon’s impeachment, leader Han Dong-hoon announced Thursday that members should vote “based on their own conviction and conscience” during Saturday’s secret ballot.
Yoon’s recall it still has to be approved by the Constitutional Court of South Koreawhich should issue its verdict within 180 days of the parliamentary vote, but this deadline is not binding.
Meanwhile, Yoon will be suspended from office and constitutional powers will be temporarily transferred to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Yoon’s appointee and career technocrat.
The last female president to be successfully impeached was the conservative Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 after a bribery and influence-peddling scandal that sparked massive street protests.
This is a developing story
