South Korea’s parliament has impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his controversial martial law decree.

On Saturday, the national assembly passed the motion after a 204 to 85 vote.

This is the second national assembly impeachment vote on Yeol. Last Saturday, Yeol survived an impeachment vote after most ruling party lawmakers boycotted the floor vote.

Yeol’s presidential powers and duties will be suspended after copies of the impeachment are delivered to him and to the constitutional court.

The court has up to 180 days to decide whether to dismiss Yeol as president or restore his powers.

If ousted, a national election must be held within 60 days to replace him.

On December 3, the president declared martial law during a televised address, accusing the opposition Democratic Party of engaging in “anti-state activities” and collaborating with North Korean factions to undermine the government.

When martial law is declared, there is a suspension of civil rights and the imposition of military law. This typically happens during emergencies.

The declaration marked the first instance of martial law in South Korea in over 40 years. It was met with backlash from lawmakers and the public.

The situation escalated quickly, with military forces surrounding the national assembly.

However, within hours, opposition lawmakers convened and unanimously voted to revoke the decree, effectively nullifying Yeol’s order.

South Korea’s opposition leader warned his ruling party colleagues on Friday that “history will remember” if they do not back the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, with just over 24 hours until a vote to remove him from office.

Yoon’s short-lived imposition of South Korea’s first martial law in over four decades plunged the country’s vibrant and combative democracy into some of its worst political turmoil in years.

An attempt to remove him from office last Saturday failed when lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party boycotted the impeachment motion.

But after a week of back-door politicking and a mounting investigation into Yoon and his inner circle, analysts now say the main opposition Democratic Party may have better luck with its second attempt.

Saturday’s impeachment vote will take place around 5:00 pm (0800 GMT), with Yoon charged with “insurrectionary acts undermining the constitutional order” for his martial law bid.

Two hundred votes are needed for it to pass, meaning opposition lawmakers must convince eight ruling party colleagues to defect.

On Friday, the leader of the Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, implored the PPP to support the president’s removal from office.

“What the lawmakers must protect is neither Yoon nor the ruling People Power Party but the lives of the people wailing out in the freezing streets,” Lee said.

“Please join in supporting the impeachment vote tomorrow. History will remember and record your choice.”

Two ruling party lawmakers supported the motion last week.

And as of Friday noon, seven ruling party lawmakers have pledged to support impeachment — leaving the vote on a knife edge.

But members of the opposition are confident they will get the votes.

Lawmaker Kim Min-Seok said Friday he was “99 percent” sure the impeachment would pass.

Should it pass, Yoon will be suspended from office while South Korea’s Constitutional Court deliberates.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will step in as the interim president during that time.

The court will then have 180 days to rule on Yoon’s future. If it backs his removal, Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be impeached.

There is also precedent for the court to block impeachment: in 2004, then-President Roh Moo-hyun was removed by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence.

But the Constitutional Court later reinstated him.

The court also currently only has six judges, meaning their decision would need to be unanimous.

And should the vote fail, Yoon can still face “legal responsibility” for the martial law bid, Kim Hyun-jung, a researcher at the Korea University Institute of Law, told AFP.

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