South Korea's President Yoon impeached

Vote caps more than a week of intense political drama

SEOUL:

South Korean lawmakers on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a "victory of the people".

The vote capped more than a week of intense political drama in the democratic South following Yoon's failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Seoul in rival rallies for and against Yoon on Saturday.

In a televised address following the parliamentary vote, Yoon said he would "step aside" but did not apologise for his actions.

Out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection while 85 voted against. Three abstained, with eight votes nullified.

Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo taking over as interim president.

The court has 180 days to rule on Yoon's future and Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae vowed to hold "a swift and fair trial".

If the court backs his removal, Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.

Two hundred votes were needed for the impeachment to pass, and opposition lawmakers needed to convince at least eight parliamentarians from Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides.

"Today's impeachment is the great victory of the people," opposition Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said following the vote.

PPP lawmaker Kim Sang-wook told broadcaster JTBC that Yoon had "completely betrayed the values of conservatism".

"That is why we, as ruling party lawmakers, have decided to remove him ourselves," he said.

Han said in an address to the nation that he "deeply acknowledges the heavy responsibility for the current situation" and "sincerely apologises to the people".

"What is most important right now is that there must not be even the slightest gap in the administration of state affairs," said Han, who convened a National Security Council meeting late Saturday evening.

A Seoul police official told AFP at least 200,000 people had massed outside parliament in support of removing the president.

Choi Jung-ha, 52, danced in the street after the vote.

"Isn't it amazing that we, the people, have pulled this off together?" she told AFP.

"I am 100 percent certain the Constitutional Court will side with the impeachment."

On the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun square, police estimated 30,000 had rallied in support of Yoon, blasting patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags.

"Yoon had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of every decision he has made as president," supporter Choi Hee-sun, 62, told AFP before the vote.