S. Korea President, Texas Abortion Lawsuit, Coffee Prices
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South Korea's president has been impeached.
Earlier this month, he tried to impose martial law as he struggled against his political opponents in the government.
I'm Scott Simon.
And I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. Thousands of protesters outside the parliament building cheered when the measure was passed.
The impeachment has significant implications for U.S. foreign policy. We'll have more on that story.
Plus, Texas sues a New York doctor for prescribing abortion medication to a Dallas woman.
And coffee prices soar after a bad drought hits Brazil.
Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.
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South Korean President Yoon Sung-yeol declared martial law 11 days ago, only to reverse his order hours later in the face of public outrage.
The political crisis threatened to pull an established democracy back to its days of military rule.
And Bears Anthony Kuhn joined us now from Seoul. Anthony, thanks for being with us.
My pleasure, Scott.
Parliament has tried to impeach Yoon just a week ago. How did the vote go this time? Why was it different?
Well, this time, all lawmakers in South Korea's parliament called the National Assembly voted. The vote ended up 204 to 85. Here's what it sounded like when the vote was announced in the main chamber.
Go! 204 votes!
Of course, there's a lot of celebrating in the streets as well. Now, Yoon's original rationale for martial law was that opposition politicians who were sympathetic or in league with North Korea were paralyzing the government. But he never really stood that charge up. It never really resonated beyond his base of conservative supporters. And it became clear that there was no war or breakdown of public order or anything that legally justified martial law. And as his ministers and generals were arrested or questioned, it became clear that Yoon and not his subordinates was the one who was orchestrating martial law.
Anthony, how does South Korea choose a new president now?
Well, Yoon's official duties have already been suspended, and South Korea's Prime Minister Han Dok-soo will stand in as acting president. Next, South Korea's Constitutional Court will have 180 days to reject or uphold the impeachment. If they uphold it, Yoon will be officially removed from office, and a new election for president will have to be held within 60 days.
Has South Korea's democracy passed a stress test? Is there lasting damage?
It seems that way. One thing that happened was that Yoon tried to hand power over to his ruling party. He said, I'm not going to manage things. They will. But experts said that's an unconstitutional arrangement. So for a while, people were not really sure who was leading South Korea. And so many top generals were suspended from their duties. There was also concern about military vulnerability.
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