Seoul, South Korea
South Korean lawmakers on Saturday (Dec 14) passed an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid.
The opposition passed the motion with 204 votes — four more than the 200 needed to remove Yoon from office over the alleged "insurrection" which last week threw South Korea into its deepest political turmoil in years.
Now that lawmakers have passed an impeachment motion, will Yoon have to resign immediately? Here's what will happen next:
What's next for Yoon?
As mentioned, the impeachment motion needed 200 votes to dethrone Yoon. On Saturday, out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection, while only 85 voted against the motion. Three lawmakers abstained from voting, and an additional eight votes were nullified.
Also read | South Korean lawmakers pass impeachment motion against Prez Yoon over martial law fiasco
With the success of the impeachment bid, Yoon now stands suspended from office as South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on whether to uphold his removal. In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will step in as the nation's interim president.
Can the court nullify the impeachment?
It can go either way. The court has 180 days to either clear or block the vote. The court currently has only six judges, which means their decision must be unanimous.
If the court upholds the impeachment, Yoon will only be the country's second president to be impeached.
The court may also block the impeachment. According to AFP, there is a precedent for the court to do so. In 2004, the South Korean Constitutional Court blocked the parliament's removal of then-president Roh Moo-hyun, reinstating him.
Also read | South Korea martial law timeline: Yoon's announcement, protests, U-turn - How events unfolded
Who was the first South Korean president to be impeached?
Former President Park Geun-hye was the first elected South Korean high-ranking official to be removed from office. On 9 December 2016, the then South Korean President Geun-hye was impeached in a culmination of a political scandal involving her top aide, Choi Soon-sil.
(With inputs from agencies)