S Korea Parliament impeaches president; Thousands on Seoul streets

South Korean Parliament impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol. - BBC

South Korean Parliament has voted to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, with 204 lawmakers voting in favour of the motion, BBC News reports.

It means that Yoon will immediately be suspended from office, and the prime minister will become the acting president.

Meanwhile, Thousands of protesters have gathered outside South Korea's National Assembly in Seoul as MPs vote again on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The opposition needs just eight members of Yoon's party to vote in favour of impeachment before the motion can pass.

Yoon survived an impeachment vote last weekend and has clung to power, despite mounting calls for him to step down after he tried to impose martial law.

In another part of the capital, Gwanghwamun, Yoon's supporters are also holding a rally in support of the embattled leader.

President Yoon and his allies are currently under investigation for insurrection charges, and a travel ban has been slapped on several of them.

This has been an incredibly unsettling week for South Koreans. It has not been clear who has been running the country. For most of the week, the president was in hiding, until he came out on Thursday and gave a defiant speech, defending his decision to impose martial law. He refused to resign and said he was going to fight to the end.

That speech has galvanised people. They are now even more determined to see him gone. Only 11% of the public still support him.

South Korea’s democracy is riding on this vote. Yoon has challenged its democracy more than it has ever been challenged before in its short 35-year history. Protesters are desperately hoping that their politicians will act in accordance with their wishes today

Protesters outside the National Assembly are now belting out a traditional, labour anthem "March for Our Beloved".

This tune was written in 1981 to commemorate democratic activists who were killed during the Gwangju protests in 1980.

Earlier, we also heard the protesters sing "Into the New World" by K-pop girl band SNSD.

This song became a national protest anthem during the 2016 impeachment of Park Geun-hye.

It is known to have been first sung in a subversive, political context by students demonstrators at Ewha Women's University students in confrontation with the police. Since then, it's been sung at various protests. BBC News