by Admin
Dec 27, 2024
The South Korean Parliament has voted to impeach their acting President Han Duck-Soo just two weeks after he assumed office.
Prime Minister Han became the President after President Yoon was removed by the parliament over a failed martial law on December 3.
Several 192 lawmakers voted for his impeachment, which was more than the 151 votes needed to push for the impeachment to succeed.
The acting president was tasked with leading the country out of the political turmoil caused by his predecessor President Yoon but was accused by the opposition members of parliament of deliberately failing to complete the impeachment proceedings of President Yoon.
Protest broke out in the parliament when the
Woo Won-shik, the National Assembly speaker announced that only 151 votes would be required to pass the impeachment bill which was met by stiff resistance from lawmakers of People Power Party (PPP) the party of former President Yoon and prime minister Han.
The ruling party lawmakers of the People Power Party (PPP) argued that the required 151 votes for the impeachment of acting President Han was way below the 200 votes needed for the impeachment process of President Yoon.
The ruling party lawmakers kept chanting “invalid” which led to a slight confrontation between them and their opposition members on the parliament floor, and called on the National Assembly Speaker to step down.
The impeachment trial began at the early hours of Thursday morning when Acting President Han blocked the appointment of three judges that parliament had chosen to oversee President Yoon’s case.
Choi Sang-mok, the finance minister is set to replace Acting President Han as the new Acting President of the country.
He said “I respect the decision of the National Assembly,” Han said Friday, adding that he “will wait for the Constitutional Court’s decision.”
He further added that he would suspend his duties as the finance minister of the country and would face the responsibility of the acting president in order to lead the country out of the ongoing political turmoil.