South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach Han Duck-soo, its acting president — two weeks after it voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Han, who was prime minister, took over as acting president after Yeol was impeached by parliament following an attempt to impose martial law in the country.
Opposition lawmakers first filed an impeachment motion against Han on Thursday after he blocked the appointment of three judges chosen by parliament to oversee Yeol’s case.
They argued that he was stalling Yeol’s impeachment process.
There was chaos in parliament as the vote held on Friday.
Woo Won-shik, speaker of the assembly, announced that only 151 votes would be needed to pass the impeachment bill. This meant that votes from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) had become inconsequential.
The announcement elicited a protest, with the PPP lawmakers who gathered in the middle of the chamber chanting “invalid!” and “abuse of power!”
They asked the speaker to step down, with most of them boycotting the vote.
A total of 192 lawmakers voted for Han’s impeachment. The acting president will be suspended from his duties as soon as he is officially notified by parliament.
Like Yeol, his impeachment would have to be confirmed by the constitutional court, which has 180 days to rule on whether the vote should be upheld.
Reacting to the impeachment, Han said “I respect the decision of the national assembly”, adding that he “will wait for the constitutional court’s decision”.
