What’s next for President Yoon Suk Yeol as South Korea parliament votes to impeach him

After South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law order fiasco, the parliament voted to impeach him on Saturday. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament and waved banners in joy. 

The court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers. If he's thrown out of office, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days. 

After the impeachment motion was passed, Yeol in a televised address said that he would "step aside" and urged an end to "politics of excess and confrontation". 

"Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future...must never come to a stop," he said. 

Holding in my heart all the criticism, encouragement, and support directed at me, I will do my best for the country until the very last moment, he said.

With Yoon suspended from office, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has been appointed as the acting president. 

It was the second National Assembly vote on Yoon's impeachment motion. Earlier, Yoon survived an impeachment vote after most ruling party members boycotted the vote. 

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik said Yoon's impeachment was an outcome driven by the people's ardent desire for democracy, courage and dedication.

Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung urged the protesters to fight together so Yoon was removed as quickly as possible. "You, the people, made it. You are writing a new history," he told the crowd. 

Yoon is the second conservative president to be impeached in South Korea. In 2017, Park Geun-hye was removed from office. In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached at parliament over an alleged election law violation but the court later overturned his impeachment and restored his presidential powers. Later in 2009, Roh jumped to his death amid corruption allegations involving his family.

Opposition parties attacked Yoon for rebellion and accused him of staging a riot against established state authorities to undermine the constitution. 

They also said that a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and has no right to suspend parliament's operations even under martial law.

Meanwhile, Yoon has been banned from leaving South Korea, as law enforcement authorities are investigating whether he and others involved in the martial law declaration committed rebellion, abuse of power and other crimes. If convicted, the leader of a rebellion plot can face the death penalty or life imprisonment.