On Saturday, South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, said he would “step aside” after parliament voted to remove him from office. He urged an end to “politics of excess and confrontation”.
“Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future… must never stop,” he said in a televised address.
This was after South Korean lawmakers on Saturday impeached Yoon over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a “victory of the people”.
The vote took place as hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Seoul in rival rallies for and against Yoon, who launched a failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3.
Out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection, 85 voted against it, three abstained, and eight votes were nullified.
With the impeachment, Yoon was suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberated on the vote.
The court has 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
