After being removed by parliament vote, South Korean president vows to fight for his future: “I will never give up”

South Korea's parliament voted on Saturday to impeach President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to fight for his political future, saying he "will never give up" while awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court on his possible impeachment in the next six months.

The impeachment vote comes after Yoon's failed attempt to impose martial law and disrupt the legislature by using the military on December 4.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside the National Assembly during the voting process, and expressed their joy when Parliament Speaker Woo Won-shik announced the result of the vote.

Yoon's powers have been suspended pending a decision by the Constitutional Court to ratify his dismissal within 180 days. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is set to take over as interim president.

"Today's impeachment represents a great victory for the people and democracy," said Park Chan-dae, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party in parliament, after the vote.

South Korea's ousted president: I will never give up

In return, the ousted president vowed to fight for his political future, with Yoon saying, "Although I am stopping now, the journey I have been on with the people over the past two and a half years toward the future should not stop. I will never give up."

In the first international reaction to the impeachment, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described it as evidence of the "robustness of democracy" in South Korea, and praised the "peaceful pursuit of a constitutionally mandated path."

Blinken expressed the United States' readiness to "work with Han after he takes office" temporarily, stressing the continuation of the "steadfast alliance" with South Korea. The European Union called in a statement for "a swift and orderly resolution of the current crisis, in accordance with the Korean constitution."

Yoon Suk-yeol shocked South Korea on the night of December 4 when he declared martial law, the country's first in more than four decades, and sent the military into parliament in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from meeting.

However, the deputies were able to hold an emergency session in a hall surrounded by special forces, and voted on a text calling for the abolition of martial law, which the president was constitutionally obligated to comply with.

(Agencies)