South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday said he would “step aside” after parliament voted to remove him from office, urging an end to “politics of excess and confrontation”.

“Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future… must never come to a stop,” he said in a televised address.

FILE: South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address at the Presidential Office in Seoul. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Presidential Office / AFP)

This was after South Korean lawmakers on Saturday impeached Yoon over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a “victory of the people”.

The vote took place as hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Seoul in rival rallies for and against Yoon, who launched a failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3.

Protesters calling for the ouster of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol react after the result of the second martial law impeachment vote outside the National Assembly in Seoul on December 14, 2024. – South Korean lawmakers on December 14 voted to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office for his failed attempt to impose martial law last week. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

Out of 300 lawmakers, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection while 85 voted against it. Three abstained, with eight votes nullified.