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South Korea's political chaos continues as its national assembly impeaches its acting president

South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo giving a speech at the National Assembly in Seoul.
The national assembly voted Friday to impeach Han Duck-soo, who took over as acting president two weeks ago. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
  • South Korea's national assembly impeached acting president Han Duck-soo on Friday.
  • Han took over for President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 14.
  • Yoon was impeached after declaring martial law for several hours.

South Korean lawmakers on Friday impeached the country's acting president, Han Duck-soo, just two weeks after he stepped into the role.

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Han, the country's prime minister, replaced President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached after he declared martial law in the country on December 3.

The Democratic Party, South Korea's main opposition party, filed a motion to impeach Han on Thursday.

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While impeaching a president requires a two-thirds majority in the 300-seat National Assembly, impeaching a prime minister only requires a simple majority of lawmakers. The vote to impeach Han was 192-0, with the ruling People Power Party boycotting the vote.

Han has been suspended from his duties immediately. The country's finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is next in line to become the acting president.

The opposition moved against Han after he refused to appoint three judges to fill the nine-member Constitutional Court, which will rule on Yoon's removal from office.

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There are currently six justices on the court, and six votes are needed to remove Yoon. This poses a potential obstacle to permanently ousting Yoon, as the loss of one vote would allow him to remain president.

The South Korean won on Friday fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 2009.

This story is developing, please check back for more updates.

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