SEOUL — The South Korean National Assembly voted Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, forcing him to immediately hand over power to the prime minister following his short-lived attempt to impose martial law this month.

The hundreds of thousands of South Koreans waiting outside the National Assembly, many singing along to K-pop-style songs with ad-libbed lyrics calling for Yoon’s departure, erupted into cheering and crying when the verdict was announced.

But South Korea now enters a prolonged period of uncertainty: The Constitutional Court must decide whether to uphold the impeachment charges, a process that could take up to six months. If the court decides the legislature’s decision is constitutional, Yoon will be removed from office and a new presidential election will be held within 60 days.

Saturday’s vote was the National Assembly’s second attempt to oust Yoon. He survived the opposition parties’ first impeachment effort on Dec. 7, after lawmakers from his conservative People Power Party boycotted the vote.

But Yoon’s refusal to resign, and his defiantly stated belief that he was right to declare martial law, appears to have convinced some lawmakers from his party to cross the aisle.

Protesters in front of the National Assembly call for the ouster of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday.
Protesters in front of the National Assembly call for the ouster of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday.
© Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
A total of 204 of the 300 lawmakers in the assembly voted in favor of the motion, announced the speaker of the assembly, Woo Won-shik. They included 12 from the president’s party, helping the opposition parties surpass the two-thirds majority required to oust the president.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, a career civil servant who holds the No. 2 position in government, will serve as interim president as South Korea enters a state of paralysis while the Constitutional Court deliberates on the impeachment charges. Han said after Saturday’s vote that he would seek to restore stability to state affairs.

Still, Han will be a caretaker and the leadership vacuum coincides with the presidential transition in the United States and the return of Donald Trump into the White House.

Analysts say this power vacuum at the helm of one of the United States’ key allies in Asia could put Seoul on weak footing with Washington and compromise its ability to swiftly respond to adjustments in foreign policy or trade. Trump has threatened to seek higher tariffs and has repeatedly suggested that Seoul should pay high sums for the 30,000-odd U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula.

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It is unclear whether the Constitutional Court, which serves the role of the U.S. Senate in the American presidential impeachment process, will uphold the impeachment vote against Yoon.

At least six members of the nine-judge court must vote to remove the president, but the court has three vacancies. Four of the six judges serving on the court were appointed by Yoon. The parliamentary speaker said Saturday night after the vote that the vacancies would be filled quickly.

In a statement issued after the impeachment vote, Yoon vowed to defend himself until the end.

“Although I am stopping for now, the journey I have walked with the people over the past two and a half years toward the future must never come to a halt,” Yoon said. “I will never give up.”