South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday said he would “step aside” after parliament voted to remove him from office, urging an end to “politics of excess and confrontation”.
“Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future… must never come to a 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 while 85 voted against it. Three abstained, with eight votes nullified.
With the impeachment, Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote.
The court has 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future.
AFP