South Korea's president suspended after impeachment vote
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lawmakers in South Korea have voted to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from power, following his failed attempt to impose martial law. Crowds of protesters are celebrating outside parliament though a vocal minority is angry that some members of the governing right-wing party backed the measure. Mr Yoon is now suspended from office and South Korea's Constitutional Court has one-hundred- and-eighty days to rule on his political future.
Also in the programme: We ask what happens now to Russia's military bases in Syria following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad; and we look at the Krampus Run - the end-of-year tradition where crowds gather to watch hundreds of people dressed in demon-like costumes run through towns scaring children.
(Picture: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at his official residence in the capital Seoul. Credit: The Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the program. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. My name's Paul Henley. And today, we'll be hearing from South Korea, where MPs have, on their second attempt, voted to impeach the controversial president, Yun Suk Yul, after he tried to impose martial law just 12 days ago. |
| 0:23.8 | We'll also have more from Syria, where people have been celebrating the end of the Assad era |
| 0:28.8 | and will be asking what happens now to Russia's military bases in Syria. |
| 0:34.4 | But first to South Korea, where the opposition have declared it a victory for the people. |
| 0:39.3 | President Yun Suk Yul has been impeached following his failed bid to impose martial law. |
| 0:45.6 | Parliament's vote took place as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Seoul |
| 0:49.9 | in rival rallies for and against the president. The protest supporting Yun's impeachment had something of a party atmosphere |
| 0:57.3 | with demonstrators dancing to K-pop hits. |
| 1:08.4 | Well, although comparatively few from the ruling party went against their president, |
| 1:13.0 | more than two-thirds of MPs voted to impeach him on allegations of insurrection. |
| 1:17.7 | The Speaker of the National Assembly, Wu Wan-Sikh, made the announcement. |
| 1:21.5 | The impeachment motion for the President. |
| 1:34.3 | 204 in favor out of 300. |
| 1:38.3 | Against is 85. |
| 1:41.3 | And who did, and I announce it has passed. |
| 1:48.2 | So President Yun has been suspended from office, |
| 1:51.2 | while South Korea's constitutional court gets 180 days to rule on his future. |
| 1:57.3 | The president, though, shows no sign of giving up his fight. |
| 2:00.4 | I don't never forget forgets. The president, though, shows no sign of giving up his fight. |
| 2:13.9 | I will never give up. I will do my best for the country until the last minute, taking reprimand, encouragement and support in mind. |
| 2:18.8 | I am frustrated. All the efforts so far will be in vain. |
| 2:25.4 | Shortly after the vote, I spoke to the opposition MP Li Unjun, who voted to impeach the president. |
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