SEOUL (Reuters) – A majority of South Korea’s parliament voted on Friday to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo.
Prime Minister Han has been acting president since President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached on Dec. 14 over his short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, and his presidential powers were suspended.
After Han’s impeachment, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is next in line to assume the acting presidency, according to South Korean law.
Some 192 lawmakers voted to impeach Han out of the 300-member parliament.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which controls parliament, decided to impeach Han after he did not immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court.
The DP-controlled parliament backed three nominees on Thursday, but Han said he would not formally appoint them unless there was bipartisan agreement on the appointments.
There has been disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties and some constitutional scholars over whether a simple majority or a two-thirds vote is needed to impeach the acting president.
However, parliament speaker Woo Won-shik, who is from the DP, said only a simple majority was needed to impeach Han.
(Reporting by Jack Kim and Joyce Lee; Editing by Ed Davies)
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