S. Korea's parliament passes impeachment motions against justice minister, police chief

SEOUL -- South Korea's parliament on Thursday passed impeachment motions against the justice minister and the police chief over their alleged roles in President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law declaration, local media reported.

Among 295 National Assembly lawmakers attending the plenary session, 195 were in favor of and 100 were against the motion to impeach Justice Minister Park Sung-jae.

The motion to suspend the duty of Cho Ji-ho, the National Police Agency chief, was passed in a 202-88 vote with one abstained and four voided.

Their duties will be suspended until the constitutional court decides on whether to uphold the impeachment motion.

The opposition parties claimed that Park and Cho played roles in Yoon's martial law imposition by participating in a cabinet meeting to put the country under military rule.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3, which was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.

The embattled president said in an address to the nation earlier in the day that his martial law declaration aimed to protect against the "legislative dictatorship" of the majority opposition.