Unprecedented impeachment motion for acting president passed

[Anchor]

Good eveing, everyone.

This is the special KBS 9 o'clock news.

For the first time in constitutional history, a motion to impeach the acting president has been passed in the National Assembly.

Amid strong protests from ruling party lawmakers, 132 members, mainly from the opposition, voted in favor.

First, reporter Jo Hye-jin reports.

[Report]

[Woo Won-shik/National Assembly Speaker: "The motion to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is declared passed."]

The motion to impeach Acting President Han Duck-soo has been passed in the National Assembly.

Out of 300 members of the National Assembly, 192 participated in the secret ballot, and all cast votes in favor.

Before the vote, Speaker Woo Won-shik determined that the quorum for the decision on the impeachment motion was more than half of the total members, which is 151 seats, based on the standard for impeaching a prime minister.

[Woo Won-shik/National Assembly Speaker: "This is the motion to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. It will be decided with the majority of the total members' votes."]

Members of the People Power Party, who argued that the passing standard should be more than 200 votes in favor, equivalent to that of a president, gathered in front of the speaker's podium to protest, leading to a scuffle.

["Resign, Speaker! Resign, Speaker!"]

As the voting began, most ruling party lawmakers exited, with only lawmaker Cho Kyoung-tae participating in the vote and casting a favorable ballot.

The Democratic Party immediately initiated the impeachment process after the acting president refused to appoint a constitutional court judge.

They cited reasons for impeachment, including neglecting to request reconsideration of the special prosecutor law, colluding in, condoning, and abetting the declaration of martial law, and refusing to appoint a constitutional court judge.

[Park Sung-joon/Democratic Party Deputy Floor Leader: "By impeaching Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, let us restore politics of common sense and move towards a path of reason."]

With the passage of the impeachment motion, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok will take over as acting president.

The impeachment of an acting president is a first in constitutional history.

This is KBS News, Jo Hye-jin.