SEOUL-LESS

South Korea Plunged Into Chaos as ANOTHER President Is Axed

Then-president Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the country last month with a martial law decree, and South Korea is holding its breath again.

Chaos descended in South Korea‘s parliament again after the man tasked with succeeding the country’s recently impeached president was also given the boot. Acting president, formerly the Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, was brought in two weeks after parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his failed bid to impose martial law on the country. But Han was accused Friday of dragging his heels in pushing through the Yoon impeachment after he refused to appoint three judges to fill vacancies in the Constitutional Court that would vote on Yoon’s future. As a result, 192 lawmakers voted for Han’s impeachment. However, it was the decision to lower the threshold of required votes from 200 for Yoon’s removal to just 151 that caused lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party to swarm National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik. “Invalid!” and “Abuse of power!” were among the angry chants. The majority of the parliament in South Korea is from the opposition Democratic Party. Yoon is from the right-wing People Power Party, while Han is an independent. Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok has taken the reigns... for now.