South Korean lawmakers have impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday. The National Assembly Speaker, Woo Won-shik, made this announcement on Friday. He said the acting president actively participated in the insurrection after his predecessor declared martial law earlier this month.

Han Duck-soo, who is the Prime Minister of South Korea, took over the president’s powers after Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached nearly two weeks ago. But why does the opposition Democratic Party want to impeach Han?

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was impeached on Friday as South Korea's acting president, is a career technocrat whose wide-ranging experience and reputation for rationality failed to shield him from growing political turmoil.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok is next in line to take on the mantle of the acting presidency, according to South Korean law.

The impeachment of South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo has plunged the country into further political turmoil, coming less than two weeks after lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

South Korea’s parliament voted to impeach prime minister and acting President Han Duck-soo Friday, less than two weeks after parliament stripped President Yoon Suk Yeol of his powers over his short-lived martial law order that plunged the country into political chaos.

The impeachment of Han Duck-soo, acting president since Yoon was impeached on Dec. 14 for declaring martial law, has thrown South Korea's once-vibrant democratic success story into uncharted territory.

A day after Han Duck-soo vowed not to appoint three judges for the Constitutional Court, the main opposition party impeached the acting president.

South Korea has voted to impeach its acting president Han Duck-soo, two weeks after parliament voted to impeach its President Yoon Suk Yeol. A total of 192 lawmakers voted for his impeachment, more than the 151 votes needed for it to succeed.

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik bangs a gavel during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2024.

Senior aides to South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resign en masse on Wednesday, a day after his office expressed regret over acting President Choi Sang-mok's approval of two new judges to a court set to decide Yoon's fate.