South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol following his controversial attempt to impose martial law earlier this month. On Saturday, the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion with a vote of 204 to 85, suspending Yoon’s powers and responsibilities, as reported by the Associated Press.
The motion required a two-thirds majority of lawmakers to succeed. Yoon had narrowly avoided impeachment in a previous vote last Saturday when members of his ruling People Power Party (PPP) chose to boycott it.
Yoon issued a martial law decree on December 3, triggering widespread political unrest. The decree lasted only six hours before parliament intervened to block it. South Korea’s Constitutional Court now has 180 days to decide whether to dismiss Yoon or restore his powers. If he is removed, a new presidential election must be held within 60 days.
Yoon’s insistence on staying in power and defending his martial law decision led some members of his own party to join the opposition, helping achieve the two-thirds majority needed to impeach him, according to The Washington Post. Yoon justified his actions as a necessary response to “anti-state” activities from opposition-controlled parties in the National Assembly. He also deployed hundreds of troops and police officers to block the parliamentary vote on his decree. On Thursday, Yoon described the martial law decision as a legitimate exercise of governance, accusing the main opposition Democratic Party of undermining the government’s budget.
Experts believe South Korean democracy faced a significant challenge, but ultimately survived. Tom Pepinsky, a public policy professor at Cornell University, warned that this event serves as a reminder of the fragility of the rule of law in presidential systems, where a president cannot be easily removed by the legislature. He praised the decisive opposition from parliament, civil society, the media, and even the military, which refrained from using force against protesters and lawmakers.
Importantly, no members of Yoon’s own party publicly supported his actions or voted in favor of the martial law decree. As South Korea enters a period of uncertainty, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will assume the role of interim president.
