South Korea acting President Han Duck-soo was on Friday impeached by lawmakers, deepening the political crisis sparked by former President Yoon Suk Yeol‘s martial law declaration.
The national assembly voted 192-0 to impeach Han, who also serves as prime minister. Ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote, protesting the speaker’s decision to proceed with a simple majority.
“I announce that Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s impeachment motion has passed. Out of the 192 lawmakers who voted, 192 voted to impeach,” said national assembly speaker Woo Won-shik.
The impeachment followed Yoon’s suspension after a parliamentary vote over his imposition of martial law on December 3. Opposition lawmakers accused Han of refusing to complete Yoon’s impeachment process and obstructing justice. They also criticised Han’s refusal to appoint three Constitutional Court judges.
“Such actions,” the opposition said, “were in violation of a public official’s duty to uphold the law… and serve the public’.”
Han said he ‘respects the parliament’s decision’ and will await the Constitutional Court’s ruling. Ruling party leader Kweon Seong-dong insisted Han should ‘continue to lead state affairs.’
Finance minister Choi Sang-mok will become acting president. He had earlier warned that impeaching the acting president was ‘no different from an impeachment motion against the entire cabinet’ and would worsen economic and political instability.
The Constitutional Court, which will decide whether to uphold both impeachments, currently has six judges instead of nine. A single dissenting vote could reinstate Yoon. The opposition wanted Han to appoint three judges to fill the vacancies, but Han argued that ‘a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly… must first be reached.’
The court held its first preliminary hearing on Yoon’s impeachment on Friday.
The South Korean Won fell to a nearly 16-year low against the US dollar amid the political turmoil. Police also raided a presidential safe house as part of the martial law investigation.