South Korea voted to impeach its acting president Han Duck-soo, two weeks after parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
192 lawmakers voted for his ouster, more than the 151 votes needed to pass.
Prime Minister Han assumed the post after President Yoon was removed from office by parliament following the failure of his efforts to impose martial law on December 3.
Han was supposed to lead the country through its political turmoil, but opposition MPs say he is rejecting demands to complete Yoon’s impeachment plan.
There was chaos in the parliament as the vote was held on Friday.
Members of Yoon’s ruling party and Han’s ruling People Power Party (PPP) protested after National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced that only 151 votes would be needed to pass the impeachment bill.
This meant that, unlike the 200 votes needed to impeach Yoon, no votes from ruling lawmakers would be needed this time to impeach Han in parliament.
Members of the ruling party in Parliament gathered in the middle of the voting room chanting, “It is not allowed!” and “abuse of power!” answering himself, then asked for the Speaker to step down. Most of them boycotted voting.
Han will be suspended from his post soon after he is officially notified by parliament.
Like Yoon, Han’s impeachment will need to be confirmed by the constitutional court, which has 180 days to rule on whether the impeachment should pass.
“I respect the decision of the National Assembly,” Han said on Friday, adding that “he will wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court.”
The opposition groups first proposed that Han impeach him on Thursday after he blocked the appointment of three judges chosen by parliament to preside over Yoon’s case.
The Constitutional Court of Korea is usually composed of a nine-member bench. At least six judges must agree to indict Yoon for the verdict to be upheld.
There are currently only six judges on the bench, meaning that one rejection would save Yoon from removal.
The opposition had hoped that the other three nominees would help improve the chances of Yoon being impeached.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will replace Han as acting president.
Han’s removal will likely intensify the political instability and uncertainty the country is currently facing.
On Friday, the Korean won also fell to its lowest level against the dollar since the global financial crisis 16 years ago – with both sides blaming each other for the mess.
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