South Korea lawmakers vote to impeach President Yoon over martial law bid

South Korean lawmakers have voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a “victory of the people”.

Out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection, with 85 against, three abstentions, and eight invalid ballots.

The motion was carried after some members of Yoon’s People Power Party joined the opposition parties, which control 192 seats in the 300-member national assembly, clearing the two-thirds threshold needed for impeachment.

The Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove him sometime in the next six months.

Yoon is the second conservative president in a row to be impeached in South Korea. Park Geun-hye was removed from office in 2017.

The court now has 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.

Yoon shocked the nation late on Dec. 3 when he gave the military sweeping emergency powers in order to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and overcome obstructionist political opponents.

He later apologised to the nation but also defended his decision and resisted calls to resign ahead of the vote.