South Korea's National Assembly has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his highly controversial imposition of martial law, in the process suspending him from all duties associated with the office of president while the Constitutional Court in Seoul determines whether he will be reinstated or removed from office.

This decision could potentially take up to 180 days to be revealed under South Korean law. Sources in the Korean capital, Seoul, do, however, suggest that a Constitutional Court decision could be forthcoming before Christmas in the largely Christian nation.

As such, should the impeachment be upheld as is hoped by tens of millions around the country, Yoon will become the second South Korean president to be removed from office following a similar vote which ultimately unseated Park Geun-hye in 2017. Should this prove the case, a snap presidential election must then be called within 60 days.

The impeachment motion against Yoon passed with 204 votes in favour, and 85 against as 12 ruling People Power Party (PPP) members appeared to have sided with the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in backing the impeachment motion.

There were also three abstentions as well as eight invalid ballots cast according to the local Yonhap News Agency. All 300 Assembly members took part in the vote unlike the previous move to impeach the president which saw all but one of the PPP members initially leave the chamber, in the process making the December 9 vote meaningless.

Today’s dramatic development came just 11 days after Yoon's declaration of martial law. It was a move that shocked the nation of 52mn, and provoked widespread anger. In the days since there have been protests around the country against the president.

Following the initial declaration of martial law by Yoon, troops encircled the National Assembly compound in what was seen as an effort to block opposition and even ruling party lawmakers from repealing the decree. The martial law order, was rescinded within six hours though following a National Assembly vote, and has since become the subject of investigations by the police, the public prosecutors, and a government office dedicated to investigation corruption claims against high-ranking officials.

In part because of the seriousness of the potential charge against him, Yoon is currently banned from leaving the country.

According to Yonhap, the impeachment resolution has now been delivered to the president’s office, and Yoon is currently suspended.

As such, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will serve as South Korea’s acting president until the Constitutional Court reaches its verdict. Han had previously pledged to ensure the stable running of the nation Yonhap reports.

Acting-president Han is now expected to convene a Cabinet meeting to prepare an address for the public.

As soon as the votes were counted, the opposition DPK celebrated the impeachment as a victory for democracy. DPK leader Lee Jae-myung was reported as saying that the vote demonstrated that "the people are the country's masters" and this marked "the beginning of a new democracy."