After the impeachment proceedings against South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, the parliament has now also voted in favor of removing the interim president Han Duck-soo from office. The motion to initiate an impeachment proceeding against Han was accepted with 192 to 0 votes on Friday, making it the first time a caretaker president has been suspended by the parliament.
The opposition Democratic Party (DP), which holds 170 of the 300 parliamentary seats, had submitted the impeachment motion against Han the previous day, after he refused to appoint additional judges to the Constitutional Court, which will rule on the impeachment of Yoon. At least six votes are required for the Constitutional Court to grant an impeachment motion, but currently, three of the nine seats on the bench are vacant.
The South Korean parliament voted in favor of President Yoon’s impeachment in early December, after he unexpectedly declared a state of emergency in a budget dispute with the opposition. Following massive protests and a corresponding parliamentary motion, he lifted the state of emergency a few hours later. South Korea’s new interim president is likely to be Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.