South Korea’s parliament on Saturday voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol in an extraordinary reproach that came about after his own ruling party turned against him following his refusal to resign over his short-lived martial law attempt.
This is the second time in less than a decade that a South Korean leader has faced impeachment proceedings in office and this means Yoon is suspended from exercising his powers until the decision is finally adjudicated by the country’s Constitutional Court.
Following the vote, which sparked jubilation among protesters outside parliament, Yoon conceded that he will “stop temporarily for now, but the journey to the future that I’ve walked with the people for the past two years should not stop.”
“I will not give up,” he said in a statement shared by the country’s presidential office.
“With all the encouragement and support for me in mind, I will do my best until the last moment for the nation,” he added.
The country’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who will serve as acting president under South Korean law, told reporters that he would “devote all his strength and effort to the stable operation of state affairs.
Kang Sun-woo, a lawmaker with the Democratic Party, told CNN Saturday that the “great democracy of South Korea will survive and will be born again” after the impeachment.
The dramatic decision marks the culmination of a stunning political showdown after Yoon briefly declared martial law on December 3 and sent soldiers to parliament, where lawmakers fought past troops to enter the building and vote down the decree.
