soul: A majority of South Korea’s parliament voted Friday to impeach acting President Han Duk-soo.
Prime Minister Han has been acting president since President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached on December 14 and his presidential powers suspended for imposing short-term martial law on December 3.
Following Han’s impeachment, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is in line to take over as acting president, in accordance with South Korean law.
About 192 lawmakers out of the 300-member parliament voted to impeach Han.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which controls parliament, decided to impeach Han after he did not immediately appoint three judges to fill the vacancies on the Constitutional Court.
The DP-controlled parliament endorsed the three nominees on Thursday, but Han said he would not formally appoint them until there was a 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 required to impeach a acting president.
However, Parliament Speaker Woo Won-shik, who is from the DP, said only a simple majority is needed to impeach Han.
