South Korea’s parliament has removed acting President Han Duck-soo from his position through impeachment on Friday, December 27.
As per Reuters, this happened shortly after the parliament suspended the powers of the actual president, Yoon Suk Yeol, because of his brief attempt to declare martial law.
The decision to hold a vote to impeach Duck-soo came after he refused to immediately appoint three justices to the Constitutional Court.
The impeachment motion was approved with 192 out of 300 votes.
After being impeached, Duck-soo expressed his sorrow, "I respect parliament's decision and in order to avoid further chaos and uncertainty, I will suspend my duties in accordance with relevant laws.”
Duck-soo said that he would wait for the Constitutional Court to review the impeachment decision.
In the meantime, the ruling People Power Party, which disagreed with the opposition’s impeachment of Han, mentioned that it had submitted a legal petition to the Constitutional Court.
Sources revealed that Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has taken over as acting president, as he is the next person in line as per the law.
He is now expected to speak with the military chief and consult with both the foreign minister and acting defence minister.
