South Korean Parliament upholds impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol

The formal impeachment procedure regarding President Yoon Suk Yeol will now have to be approved by the Constitutional Court within 180 days

South Korea’s National Assembly (the parliament) upheld an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, who announced a hasty decision to introduce a martial law on December 3, South Korean Parliament’s Speaker Woo Won-shik announced on Saturday.

All of the Parliament’s deputies participated in the voting and the impeachment motion was backed by 204 out of 300 deputies.

The broadcast of the process on the impeachment motion was delivered on air by South Korean MBC television channel.

The formal impeachment procedure regarding President Yoon Suk Yeol will now have to be approved by the Constitutional Court within 180 days.

On the night of December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law for the first time in 45 years, accusing the opposition of attempting to paralyze the executive branch, but he rescinded the measure six hours later.

On December 4, the opposition initiated impeachment proceedings, arguing that Yoon Suk Yeol violated the constitution as there were no grounds for declaring martial law.

However, even with two-thirds of the parliamentary vote, the impeachment will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court.

It needs a quorum of seven members to hear such matters, but currently, only six of the Court’s nine seats are filled. Judges are approved by the president.

According to some interpretations of the constitution, the president may also leave some seats in the Constitutional Court vacant.