South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo impeached by opposition lawmakers | Global News Avenue

Seoul, South Korea — South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted on Friday to impeach acting President Han Deok-soo despite strong protests from ruling party lawmakers, further deepening South Korea’s political crisis triggered by President Yoon Seok-yeol’s shocking political crisis. impose martial law and subsequent impeachment.

The impeachment of South Korea’s president means he will be stripped of his presidential powers and duties until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him or reinstate him. The court is already reviewing whether to uphold Yin’s earlier impeachment. The impeachment of the country’s two top officials has added to its political turmoil, deepened economic uncertainty and damaged its international image.

The single-chamber Congress passed Han Kuo-yu’s impeachment motion by a vote of 192 to 0. Lawmakers from the ruling People’s Power Party boycotted the vote and gathered around the podium where Speaker Oh Won-sik was sitting, shouting that the vote was “invalid” and demanding Oh Won-sik’s resignation. No violence or injuries were reported.

Wu called for a vote on Han’s impeachment motion after announcing that passage of the impeachment motion would require a simple majority in the 300-member parliament, rather than the two-thirds majority claimed by the People’s Party. People’s Party lawmakers protested. Most South Korean officials can be impeached with a simple majority vote in the National Assembly, but impeachment of the president requires two-thirds support. There are no specific laws regarding the impeachment of an acting president.

Han Kuo-yu’s powers will be formally suspended when copies of his impeachment papers are served on him and the Constitutional Court. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will take over.

Agence France-Presse pointed out that People’s Party leader Quan Chengdong said after the vote that Han Hanyu “must continue to lead national affairs and not succumb to the opposition’s impeachment motion.”

But Han said in a statement that he “respects the parliament’s decision” and will wait for the Constitutional Court to subsequently decide whether to uphold the decision.

South Korea’s president, who Yoon appointed as prime minister, became acting president about two weeks ago after conservative Yun was impeached by the National Assembly for imposing a brief martial law on December 3. South Korea’s president quickly clashed with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party as he opposed opposition-led efforts to fill three vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, launch an independent investigation into Yun’s martial law order and enact legislation that would benefit farmers.

At the heart of the fight is the Democratic Party’s demand that Han-Yu approve parliamentary nominations of three new Constitutional Court judges in order to restore all nine of its judges before a ruling on Yoon Eun-hye’s impeachment. This is a politically sensitive issue because the court’s decision to fire President Yoon requires the support of at least six justices, and adding more justices could increase the likelihood that Yoon will be ousted. Yoon’s political allies in the ruling People’s Power party opposed the appointment of the three justices, saying Han should not use presidential power to make the appointments while Yoon has not been formally removed from office.

On Thursday, Han said he would not appoint judges without bipartisan agreement. The Democratic Party, which holds a majority in parliament, submitted an impeachment motion against Han Kuo-yu and passed a bill calling for the appointment of three judges.

South Korean investigative agencies are investigating whether Mr Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power under the Marriage Act. His defense minister, police chief and several other top military commanders have been arrested for deploying troops and police to the National Assembly, triggering a dramatic standoff that ended with lawmakers managing to enter the chamber and vote unanimously to reject Yoon ended with the decree.