South Korea president vows to ‘never give up’ after impeachment vote

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South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol vowed to “never give up” after the country’s National Assembly voted to impeach him on Saturday.

Describing his impeachment as a “temporary pause,” Yun, who last week launched a failed attempt to impose military rule on Asia’s fourth-largest economy, said in a televised address that he was “disappointed to think that all my efforts; [as president] maybe it was in vain.”

“Although I am stopping for now, the path to the future that I have walked with the people for the past two and a half years must never stop,” he added.

Yun’s remarks came after the National Assembly voted 204 to 85 to impeach him.

The vote means that Yun will be suspended from office and his constitutional powers will be temporarily transferred to Prime Minister Han Dak-soo while the country’s constitutional court considers whether to approve Yun’s removal as head of state.

The Constitutional Court must make a decision within six months after the vote of the Parliament, but this period is not mandatory. Presidential elections must be held within 60 days after the verdict.

“My heart is very heavy,” Han told reporters after the vote as he vowed to do his best to ensure a stable term.

The opposition parties, which hold 192 seats in the 300-seat legislature, only needed the support of eight of 108 lawmakers to secure the two-thirds majority required by the president’s People’s Power Party (PPP).

Yun survived an impeachment motion last Saturday when conservative PPP lawmakers boycotted the vote, but sentiment in the party began to turn against him after a speech on Thursday in which the president slammed critics and vowed to “fight to the end.”

Although the party’s official policy remained to oppose Yun’s impeachment, leader Han Dong-hoon said on Thursday that members should vote with their conscience.All 300 members of the National Assembly participated in the vote, which was held by secret ballot. Three abstained, while there were eight invalid ballots.

“Yun created a rebellion that paralyzed the constitutional order,” Park Chan-dae, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), told lawmakers before the vote.

“The National Assembly should terminate his powers using the powers given by the constitution,” he added. “This is the fastest and most regular way to settle the situation.”

The result was greeted with cheers and applause from tens of thousands of people who gathered outside the parliament building in Seoul to call on lawmakers to vote for impeachment.

“I’m so happy right now, but this is just the beginning,” said Seo Mi-joo, a protester who works in education. “I will fight until the end until he is arrested and punished.”

Simon Henderson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Yoon’s impeachment “serves as a reminder of how close democratic South Korea is to the brink of martial law, a reminder of the country’s a dark history of military dictatorship“.

“Instead, the people of South Korea and lawmakers have stood up and fought to protect their democracy and human rights,” he added.

Analysts say Saturday’s vote is unlikely to mark the end of political turmoil.

Yun is believed to have sent troops to storm the national assembly in a failed attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting to reject his decree imposing military rule.

Some opposition voices have suggested that Prime Minister Han, now interim president, should also be impeached for his role as Yun’s cabinet chief in the martial law episode.

The last South Korean president to be impeached was the conservative Park Geun-hye, who was ousted in 2017 after a bribery and influence-peddling scandal that sparked massive street protests.