South Korean lawmakers impeached acting president Han Duck-soo on Friday, sinking the country even deeper into political crisis.
The impeachment comes two weeks after his predecessor was suspended over a martial law declaration that shocked the world.
Han, a career bureaucrat who was serving as prime minister, took over from President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 14 after parliament voted to impeach him on allegations of insurrection.
Opposition MPs have now also stripped Han of his duties, arguing that he refused demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment process and to bring him to justice.
“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.
Lawmakers from the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) loudly protested in parliament after the speaker said only a simple majority was required for impeachment to pass, instead of the two-thirds required to remove Yoon.
PPP lawmakers began chanting angrily, with many rushing towards Woo, demanding that he resign. They did not take part in the vote.
In addition to being the second impeachment of a head of state in just two weeks, Friday’s vote was also South Korea’s first impeachment of an acting president.
PPP leader Kweon Seong-dong said after the vote that Han “must continue to lead state affairs without yielding to the opposition’s passage of the impeachment motion”.
However, Han said in a statement that he “respects the parliament’s decision” and would wait for the Constitutional Court’s subsequent decision on whether to uphold it.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is now stepping into the roles of both acting president and prime minister, pledged to do all he can to end the political upheaval gripping his country.
“Minimising governmental turmoil is of utmost importance at this moment,” Choi said in an address shortly after his appointment as acting leader, adding that “the government will also dedicate all its efforts to overcoming this period of turmoil.”
