Although, he will still remain in office for about six months.
On Saturday, December 14, a total of 204 lawmakers in South Korea’s National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, almost two weeks since he hastily ordered the imposition of martial rule in the country.
This effectively suspends Yoon of his Presidential duties, with Prime Minister Han Duck Soo stepping in as Acting President.
The onus now falls on the Constitutional Court, which has up to six months to decide whether Yoon will stay in power.
If Yoon is removed from office, a snap election will be called to elect his replacement.
The move to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol comes a week after the parliament first attempted, but that did not push through after the ruling party, People Power, walked out of the chamber.
In his previous declaration last December 3, Yoon said that he declared martial law, the first in South Korea since the dictatorship under former President Chun Doo Hwan in 1980, in order to stop “anti-state agents” — who he claimed without proof to be in support of North Korea.
Yoon Suk Yeol, 64, was elected in March 2022 after garnering more than 16.3 million votes, over 200,000 more against his rival Lee Jae Myung, currently the leader of the opposition Democratic party.
Since then, Yoon’s public approval rating continued to dip and stood at about 19% before the martial law decree.
Many citizens have been critical of his handling of multiple domestic affairs, such as the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush and the crisis in the medical field, which has resulted to strikes from many workers in the sector.
Yoon’s party also suffered the consequences, as during the 2024 parliamentary elections, they only mustered to secure 103 seats, while the opposition Democratic party won as the majority party in the assembly with 173 seats.