Democratic Party Floor Leader Rep. Park Chan-dae (left) and People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong face off as National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik stands in the middle of them at the main chamber of the National Assembly on Friday. (Yonhap)
Democratic Party Floor Leader Rep. Park Chan-dae (left) and People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong face off as National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik stands in the middle of them at the main chamber of the National Assembly on Friday. (Yonhap)

Acting President Han Duck-soo said Friday he would accept the opposition-led vote that suspends him from the position.

"I respect the National Assembly's decision, and I will accept my suspension from my position by law, in order not to fuel confusion or uncertainties," Han said, adding he would "wait for the swift and wise decision by the Constitutional Court" concerning his impeachment.

The 192-0 vote in favor Friday will suspend Han from his position as soon as he or his representatives receive an original copy of the impeachment resolution. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will take over as the acting president and acting prime minister. Han is the first acting president to be impeached in South Korean history.

The vote sparked immediate protest from the ruling People Power Party.

The ruling party said all of its 108 lawmakers filed a request for arbitration and an injunction with the Constitutional Court to seek a legal remedy over the National Assembly's decision.

The PPP lawmakers also dashed to National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik after he confirmed that the impeachment threshold would be 151 of the 300-member National Assembly just before the voting began at the plenary session of the National Assembly.

As the vote count started, the ruling party lawmakers walked out of the main chamber to further stage protest, demanding that the impeachment vote be rendered invalid.

People Power Party Rep. Kweon Seong-dong said outside the main chamber that Han's impeachment vote had failed to meet the requirement, arguing that 200 votes in favor can only impeach Han at Friday's vote.

The main opposition party, meanwhile, labeled the acting president as an accomplice to what the party described as an attempted coup instigated by President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration.

The Democratic Party's impeachment motion accused Han of his failure to appoint three new Constitutional Court justice candidates nominated by the National Assembly.

Rep. Park Sung-joon, who floated the impeachment motion, said Han's "delaying tactic" through his refusal to appoint justices to fill in judicial vacancies at Yoon's impeachment trial was a testament that he had been deceiving the public.

The motion also accused Han of convening an emergency Cabinet meeting on Dec. 3, which enabled President Yoon to impose martial law. Han has claimed that he arranged the meeting to persuade Yoon not to declare martial law then.

Notably, the Democratic Party has claimed that disgraced former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun's prior notice to Han about the martial law scheme -- based on the argument by Kim's attorneys Thursday -- is the paramount issue. The Prime Minister's Office has consistently denied the argument.

Claiming that such speculations turned out to be true, Park described Han as the No. 2 in Yoon's attempted insurrection.

Democratic Party had been threatening to impeach Han unless he approves the parliamentary nomination of the three Constitutional Court justices. Han said Thursday that he would not approve the opposition-led bill without bipartisan agreement.