South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been impeached by the National Assembly over his attempt to impose martial law, a move that was widely rebuked by majority interests.
The imposition of the short-lived marital law sparked national outrage leading to a call for the President’s impeachment.
Daily Intel gathered that the unicameral National Assembly voted 204 to 85 on Saturday to impeach Yoon, the second of such vote in eight days. Three members abstained and eight votes were declared invalid.
The vote was done by secret ballot, with two-thirds of the votes required for impeachment. All 300 members of the assembly cast their ballots.
With his impeachment, Yoon is automatically suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates his fate.
Following the impeachment, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is expected to take over as the interim president.
The Constitutional Court would then 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.
Park Geun-hye, another conservative president, was impeached in December 2016 and was removed from office in March 2017.
