Acting President Han Duck-soo says he respects the results of the National Assembly’s impeachment vote against him and will suspend his duties in line with related laws to avoid adding further confusion or uncertainty. 

Han made the remark in a statement to the people released on Friday, shortly after the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion, adding that he will wait for the swift and wise decision of the Constitutional Court.

Finance minister and deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok, who is the number 3 official in the Cabinet, will step in as acting president. 

This marks the first time in the history of the nation’s Constitution for a prime minister who is concurrently serving as acting president, following parliament’s impeachment of the sitting president, to be suspended from office after being impeached by parliament.