South Korea’s highest court has removed embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, ending months of uncertainty and legal wrangling after he briefly declared martial law in December and plunged the nation into political turmoil.
The court’s decision on Friday marks Yoon’s formal dismissal from the presidency after parliament voted to impeach him in December. His removal takes effect immediately, meaning he must now leave the presidential residence, and will trigger an election to replace him.
South Korea’s long-running crisis has left a major global economy and key US ally rudderless at a fraught moment in world affairs, especially as US President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda upends decades of foreign policy norms and dismantles the global trading system.
The Constitutional Court’s eight justices unanimously ruled to uphold Yoon’s impeachment in a scathing rebuke – pointing to the chaotic night of martial law when he sent troops to parliament and ordered soldiers to “drag out” lawmakers who fought their way in to block the decree.
The president had violated the formal process of declaring martial law, infringed on lawmakers’ rights and violated his duty as head of the armed forces in a “grave betrayal of the people’s trust,” said the court’s acting head judge Moon Hyung-bae.
The martial law decree was unconstitutional as there was no grave national crisis at the time and Yoon’s reasons for declaring it “cannot be justified,” Moon added. Even after his removal from office, Yoon remains dogged by other legal proceedings, including his insurrection trial. The criminal charge is punishable by life imprisonment or death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.
Under South Korean law, a general election to choose a new president must be held within 60 days of Yoon’s removal. One potential candidate for the country’s next president is opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, a former lawyer and lawmaker who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election.
After the court verdict, Lee thanked the people who “protected the democratic Republic of Korea,” and said they would work to restore the country’s peace and economy – and to ensure something like this never happens again. Acting President Han Duck-soo, who assumed the top office after Yoon’s impeachment, also vowed to ensure national security, and to carry out the next election following the constitution and “the will of the people who are sovereign.”
Source: Here