South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has said he would "step aside" after parliament voted to remove him from office, urging an end to "politics of excess and confrontation".
"Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future... must never come to a stop," he said in a televised address.
Mr Yoon was impeached over his failed martial law bid, with the opposition declaring a "victory of the people".
The vote in parliament took place as hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Seoul in rival rallies for and against Mr Yoon, who launched a failed attempt to impose martial law on 3 December.
Out of 300 politicians, 204 voted to impeach the president on allegations of insurrection while 85 voted against.
Three abstained, with eight votes nullified.
With the impeachment, Mr Yoon has been suspended from office while South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote.
The court has 180 days to rule on his future.
If it backs his removal, Mr Yoon will become the second president in South Korean history to be successfully impeached.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo - now the nation's interim leader - told reporters he would "devote all my strength and efforts to ensure stable governance".
Two hundred votes were needed for the impeachment to pass and opposition politicians needed to convince at least eight parliamentarians from Mr Yoon's conservative People Power Party (PPP) to switch sides.
"Today's impeachment is the great victory of the people," opposition Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said following the vote.
A Seoul police official told AFP at least 200,000 people had massed outside parliament in support of removing the president.
Choi Jung-ha, 52, celebrated in the street after the vote.
"Isn't it amazing that we, the people, have pulled this off together?" she told AFP.
"I am 100% certain the Constitutional Court will side with the impeachment," she added.
On the other side of Seoul near Gwanghwamun square, police estimated 30,000 had rallied in support of Mr Yoon, blasting patriotic songs and waving South Korean and American flags.
"Yoon had no choice but to declare martial law. I approve of every decision he has made as president," supporter Choi Hee-sun, 62, told AFP before the vote.
The Democratic Party said ahead of the vote that impeachment was the "only way" to "safeguard the constitution, the rule of law, democracy and South Korea's future".
"We can no longer endure Yoon's madness," spokesperson said.
At the rally outside parliament supporting impeachment, volunteers gave out free hand warmers to fight the sub-zero temperatures, as well as coffee and food.
K-pop singer Yuri of the band Girls' Generation - whose song "Into the New World" has become a protest anthem - said she had pre-paid for food for fans attending the demonstration.
"Stay safe and take care of your health!" she said on a superfan chat platform.
One protester said she had rented a bus so parents at the rally would have a place to change and feed their babies.
There is precedent for the court to block impeachment, however.
In 2004, then-president Roh Moo-hyun was removed by parliament for alleged election law violations and incompetence, but the Constitutional Court later reinstated him.
The court currently only has six judges, meaning their decision must be unanimous.
Following the vote, parliament speaker Woo Won-shik, said the assembly would seek to nominate three more judges to the court as soon as possible.
"The future of South Korea lies within its people," he said.
Mr Yoon remained unapologetic and defiant as the fallout from his martial law declaration deepened and an investigation into his inner circle has widened.
His approval rating - never very high – fell to 11%, according to a Gallup Korea poll released yesterday.
The same poll showed that 75% supported his impeachment.
