South Korean parliament impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol – Times of India

South Korean lawmakers on Saturday voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol in a second impeachment motion, amid ongoing investigations into allegations of rebellion linked to his controversial martial law decree issued on December 3.
The vote saw participation from all 300 members of the South Korean parliament, with 204 lawmakers voting in favor of impeachment.
Earlier last week on Saturday, President Yoon narrowly survived an impeachment vote, as most members of his ruling party boycotted the session. However, public protests against his leadership have escalated, with his approval rating falling sharply as thousands of people took to the streets of Seoul in competing rallies both supporting and opposing him.
South Korea’s legislative assembly initiated discussions regarding an impeachment motion, following an unsuccessful attempt the previous week to dismiss Yoon over the martial law controversy.
The impeachment required 200 votes for approval, necessitating the opposition to secure support from eight legislators belonging to Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP).

After the motion’s approval, the Constitutional Court will evaluate whether to restore Yoon’s position or permanently remove him. Yoon becomes the second president to face removal, following Park Geun-hye’s dismissal in 2017.
Park Geun-hye, who assumed presidency in 2013, faced parliamentary impeachment, which the Constitutional Court upheld in March 2017, resulting in her prosecution and subsequent imprisonment.
As South Korea’s first female president and the offspring of former authoritarian leader Park Chung-hee, she had positioned herself as a symbol of integrity.
However, she faced allegations of soliciting or accepting substantial sums from major corporations, including Samsung. She also encountered accusations of distributing classified information, maintaining a register of artists who criticised her policies, and terminating officials who challenged her decisions.