South Korea’s parliament has tabled a proposal to impeach President Yoon, paving the way for a vote that could lead to the removal of the head of state over his failed attempt to declare martial law.

A vote on the impeachment motion should be held within the next 72 hours. The ruling People’s Power Party has announced that it will vote against the motion.

The opposed Democratic Party will need at least eight votes from ruling party deputies to pass the impeachment motion.

If the impeachment motion is approved and subsequently ratified by the Constitutional Court, Yoon Suk-gel will become the second South Korean president to be deposed since Park Geun-hye in 2017.

If Yoon is removed, Prime Minister Han Dak-soo will temporarily take over as president and elections will be held within 60 days.

“He violated the Constitution to avoid an investigation against him” – What the impeachment motion against the president says

Yoon Suu-geol “seriously and grossly violated the Constitution” and attempted to avoid a criminal investigation against him by trying to impose martial law in the country, the text of the impeachment motion against the president says.

His decision was motivated by “the desire to avoid criminal investigations involving President Yun and his family” and “without constitutional prerequisites such as war, armed rebellion or similar situations of national emergency,” the text of the impeachment motion – seen by Agence France-Presse – submitted by six opposition parties specifies.

The Asian country experienced a state of shock for hours yesterday as President Yun, in a show of force, announced the imposition of martial law in the country, but was forced to lift the measure he imposed to general astonishment a few hours later after parliament rejected his attempt to suspend all political activity and proceed to impose strict censorship on the media.

The president’s services released a statement today stressing that the declaration of martial law was justified and within the limits of the constitution.