South Korea's opposition-controlled National Assembly votes to impeach acting President Han

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly voted Friday to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo despite vehement protests by governing party lawmakers, further deepening the country’s political crisis set off by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning imposition of martial law and ensuing impeachment.

Han’s impeachment means he will be stripped of the powers and duties of the president until the Constitutional Court decides whether to dismiss or reinstate him. The court is already reviewing whether to uphold Yoon's earlier impeachment.

The impeachments of the country’s top two officials has worsened its political turmoil, deepened economic uncertainties and hurting its international image.

The single-chamber National Assembly passed Han’s impeachment motion with a 192-0 vote. Lawmakers with the governing People Power Party boycotted the vote and surrounded the podium where assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik was seated, shouting that the vote was invalid and demanding Woo's resignation. No violence or injuries were reported.

The PPP lawmakers protested after Woo called for a vote on Han’s impeachment motion after announcing its passage required a simple majority in the 300-member assembly, not a two-thirds majority as claimed by the PPP.

Most South Korean officials can be impeached by the National Assembly with a simple majority vote, but a president’s impeachment needs the support of two-thirds. There are no specific laws on the impeachment of an acting president.

In a statement, Han said his impeachment was regrettable but added that he respects the assembly's decision and will suspend his duties to “not add to additional confusion and uncertainty.” He said he will wait for “a swift, wise decision” by the Constitutional Court.

Han’s powers were officially suspended after copies of his impeachment document were delivered to him and the Constitutional Court. The deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, took over.

Later Friday, Choi's office said he instructed the military to boost its readiness to help prevent North Korea from miscalculating the situation and launching provocations. He also told the foreign ministry to inform the United States, Japan and other major partners that South Korea's foreign policies remain unchanged.

Han, who was appointed prime minister by Yoon, became acting president after Yoon, a conservative, was impeached by the National Assembly about two weeks ago over his short-lived Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.

Han quickly clashed with the main liberal opposition Democratic Party as he pushed back against opposition-led efforts to fill three vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, establish an independent investigation into Yoon’s martial law decree and legislate pro-farmer bills.

At the heart of the fighting is the Democratic Party’s demand that Han approve the assembly's nominations of three new Constitutional Court justices to restore its full nine-member bench ahead of its ruling on Yoon’s impeachment.

That’s a politically sensitive issue because a court decision to dismiss Yoon as president needs support from at least six justices, and adding more justices will likely increase the prospects for Yoon’s ouster. Yoon’s political allies in the governing party oppose the appointment of the three justices, saying Han shouldn’t exercise the presidential authority to make the appointments while Yoon has yet to be formally removed from office.

On Thursday, Han said he wouldn’t appoint the justices without bipartisan consent. Later in the day, the Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the assembly, submitted an impeachment motion against Han and passed bills calling for the appointment of three justices.

South Korean investigative agencies are probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power with his marital law decree. Yoon has repeatedly ignored requests by authorities to appear for face-to-face questioning,

His defense minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon’s decree.

South Korean media reported that prosecutors indicted former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun for allegedly playing a key role in Yoon's rebellion plot and committing abuse of power and obstruction. The reports said Kim, a close associate of Yoon, became the first person to be formally charged over the martial law decree.

Calls to a Seoul prosecutors' office were unanswered.

Han's impeachment motion accuses him of collaborating and abetting Yoon's declaration of martial law. It also accuses Han of attempting to obstruct the restoration of the Constitutional Court's full membership and of delaying investigations into Yoon's alleged rebellion by not appointing independent counsels.

The martial law enactment, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, lasted only six hours but it caused political turmoil, triggered alarms from the country's neighbors and rattled markets. Yoon has defended his decree as an act of governance, saying it was a warning to the Democratic Party which he said has been using its parliamentary majority to obstruct his agenda.

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top center, speaks as lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against the country's acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters hold banners showing images of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and acting President Han Duck-soo during a rally demanding Han's impeachment outside of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2024. The signs read "Impeachment immediately" (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's ruling People Power Party floor leader Kweon Seong-dong, top right, argues with democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae, top left, as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik stands between them during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Impeached South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo gets into a car as he leaves the government complex building in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Hong Hae-in/Yonhap via AP)

Impeached South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo leaves the government complex building in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Hong Hae-in/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, walks past lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protesting to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top center, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, walks past lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protesting to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top center, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Lawmakers, left, of South Korea's opposition Democratic Party, hold signs as lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protesting to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top second from right, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2024. The signs read "People Power Party is an accomplice of rebellion". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top center, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung casts his ballot during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik bangs a gavel during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top, speaks as lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against the country's acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top left, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party protest to South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik, top center, during a plenary session for the impeachment motion against South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Choi Jae-koo/Yonhap via AP)

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Ex-rugby league international Kane Evans won’t have to worry about the extortion threats any more or be concerned about his family finding out about his sexuality before he’s ready to tell them.

In a television interview Monday with Channel Nine’s “100% Footy,” Evans said he was gay and that he felt like a weight had lifted off him when he finally could talk about it publicly.

Evans is the first high-level rugby league player in Australia to come out as gay since Ian Roberts in 1995.

Evans played 131 games in the elite National Rugby League from 2014-2021 for clubs including the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta and the New Zealand-based Warriors before finishing off his professional career in England in 2023. He played 13 international games for Fiji.

“I had three goals in life: It was to play NRL, to buy my parents a house, and then I wanted to top myself, because I was living in denial from a young age,” the 34-year-old Evans said in the television interview. “I know that I’m gay. But I went down every other avenue to sort of build up these walls ... to escape who I am.”

After struggling with addiction and suicidal thoughts as he dealt with his sexuality as a younger man and professional footballer, and then experiencing homelessness after a business collapse in his post-rugby league career, Evans finally got the support he needed.

Evans said it was only after talking to Joe Galuvao, a former player who works with the Rugby League Players’ Association, that he realized help was so close.

“I thank God that he came and visited me and got me into rehab with the help of the RLPA,” Evans said.

Others in the football fraternity reached out, Evans said. Like Sydney Roosters head coach Trent Robinson, who helped pay the bills while Evans was in rehabilitation and invited him back into the club.

“He called me just to let me know that the Roosters are still my home and they’ve got my back, whatever I’m facing,” Evans said. “That meant the world to me. He took me, my best friend, and one of my mentors to Roosters HQ a week after I got out of rehab."

Evans had planned to come out to his family before the television interview aired.

“I've been fighting a war within since I was about 15 years old and it's not sustainable,” he said. “I’m here today to show people that you don’t have to live like that. Even now I feel a bit more free, just by saying it out loud, I’ve brought it to the light."

Evans said he'd had “people blackmail me … I’ve had people try to deflect their problems by trying to out me. And it just built up a lot of shame, and fear and guilt within myself.”

“Now I’ve spoken about it, I’ve shattered all those chains. They’ve lost their power," he added. “I feel like coming and speaking to you today, fear, shame, guilt -- all of that, I’ve cut ties with all that. I feel peace within.”

Roberts, who played for Australia in the 1990s, described Evans' interview as an “extraordinary moment” and “I was in tears watching.”

“I am so proud of him,” Roberts told News Corp. “Everything he was saying ... I thought ‘this poor kid,’ I know exactly where he is in his head, what he is going through, the extremes of uncertainty of your own sense of self and your sense of other people.”

Andrew Johns, one of rugby league's greatest players, said the bravery Evans had shown would be encouraging for other people.

“To come out and tell the world, especially the rugby league world, it's incredibly strong," Johns told the Nine network. “There's going to be so much love for him in the rugby league — he's going to save a lot of lives.”

Johns said there were a lot of young people struggling with their sexuality and when “they see someone like Kane and the pain he's gone through, and the strength he's shown, it'll help them stand up and talk to parents, or people close to them.”

“So Kane, well done mate," he added. "We all love you. Incredibly proud of you.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Kane Evans of the Parramatta Eels, top, is tackled by Bayley Sironen of the South Sydney Rabbitohs during their National Rugby League match between in Sydney, on Aug. 27, 2020. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)