SEOUL - Political turmoil in South Korea intensified on Friday as lawmakers voted 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.
A total of 192 lawmakers voted to impeach Han out of the 300-member National Assembly.
The main opposition Democratic Party, which controls parliament, decided to impeach Han after he did not immediately appoint three justices to fill vacancies at the Constitutional Court.
Until the judges are appointed, the court cannot move forward with its review of the case against Yoon. It will have the final say as to whether he will be removed from office.
The assembly 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 Democrat Party, said only a simple majority was needed to impeach Han.
In one of his first pronouncements as acting president, Choi Sang-mok said the government had ordered the military to step up vigilance, raising the possibility that North Korea could take advantage of the South’s political situation to carry out acts of provocation.