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South Korea has voted to impeach President Han Duck-soo two weeks after the parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol.
A total of 192 voted in favor of the impeachment, exceeding the 151 votes needed to pass.
Prime Minister Han took over after President Yoon was impeached by parliament following his failure to enact martial law on 3 December.
Mr Han was supposed to lead the country away from political unrest, but opposition lawmakers argued that he was rejecting demands to finish the job of impeaching Mr Yoon.
There was chaos in the parliament when the vote took place on Friday.
Lawmakers from Yoon and Han’s ruling People Power Party (PPP) protested after National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced that only 151 votes would be needed to pass the resolution.
This means that, unlike the 200 votes needed to impeach Yoon, no votes from lawmakers will be needed this time for Han to be removed from parliament.
Members of the ruling party gathered in the center of the polling station chanting, “Unacceptable!” and “abuse of power!” in response, and asked the speaker to resign. Most of them boycotted the vote.
Mr Han will be suspended from his post as soon as he is notified by parliament.
Like Yoon, Han’s conviction must be confirmed by the court, which has 180 days to issue a ruling on whether to accept the case.
“I respect the decision of the National Assembly,” Han said on Friday, adding that he would “wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court.”
Prosecutors issued the first ruling against Han on Thursday after blocking the appointment of three judges appointed by the legislature to oversee Yoon’s case.
The Constitutional Court in Korea usually has 9 members. At least six judges must agree that Mr. Yoon is indicted for the verdict to be upheld.
There are currently only six judges on the bench, meaning that one rejection could save Yoon from being removed.
The opposition hoped that the three nominees would help prepare Yoon’s challenge for impeachment.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is expected to succeed Han as president.
Han’s removal will increase the political instability and uncertainty the country is currently struggling with.
On Friday, the Korean won also fell to its lowest level against the dollar since the global financial crisis 16 years ago – with both sides blaming each other for the turmoil.
