South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol has been removed from office, four months after his shortlived attempt to impose martial law sparked a prolonged political crisis.
The Constitutional Court on Friday announced in a unanimous verdict that it would uphold parliament’s vote to impeach Yoon last year over his failed power grab, stripping him of office and ending his presidency less than three years into his five-year term.
A presidential election will be held within 60 days. Han Duck-soo, a Yoon appointee and long-serving technocrat, will serve as acting president until then.
The hardline former prosecutor’s move to impose martial law in December triggered South Korea’s most severe political crisis since its transition to democracy in the late 1980s, leading to his suspension and subsequent arrest on a criminal charge of insurrection.
Yoon told the Constitutional Court in February that his overnight martial law decree and decision to deploy troops to storm the country’s parliament had been necessary to “alert the public” to the “wickedness” of the leftwing opposition.
But, announcing the court’s ruling on Friday morning, acting chief justice Moon Hyung-bae said Yoon had “violated the basic principles of a democratic state”.
Moon described how in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting to reject his martial law decree, Yoon had dispatched soldiers to the National Assembly with orders to “break down the door and drag the lawmakers out”.
Yoon’s defence minister also instructed counter-intelligence services to monitor the location of the National Assembly speaker and the leaders of the main political parties — including his own — on the night of the martial law decree as a precursor to arresting them, Moon said.
Military officials also illegally inspected the electoral commission’s computer systems and monitored the locations of senior members of the judiciary, including a former Supreme Court chief justice, said Moon.
“[Yoon] mobilised military and police forces to dismantle the authority of constitutional institutions and infringed upon the fundamental rights of the people,” said Moon. “In doing so, he abandoned his duty to uphold the constitution and gravely betrayed the trust of the Korean people.”
The former president still faces separate criminal charges of insurrection. He denies any wrongdoing.
The landmark verdict, which marks the second time a South Korean president has been impeached and removed from office in under a decade, comes as Asia’s fourth-largest economy wrestles with sluggish growth and deepening political polarisation.
Given heightened tensions in recent months and violence at some pro-Yoon protests, there was a heavy police presence on the streets of Seoul on Friday.
The verdict was met with loud cheers from anti-Yoon demonstrators gathered outside the court. “There is hope for this country as we overthrew a dictator and will elect a new leader,” said Ahn Eung-soo, a 72-year-old retiree. “People will have a better life.”
But Kim Young-kyu, a 61-year-old retiree and Yoon supporter, described the court as “politicised” and its ruling as “not logical”.
“I will continue to protest for our country,” he said. “Yoon should be at the forefront of our efforts to evict anti-state forces.”
Near the court, some Yoon supporters vandalised police vehicles, while others chanted death threats against Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the leftwing opposition Democratic party and the frontrunner in the race to succeed Yoon.
In a statement, Lee described the verdict as “a new beginning for Korea”.
Jung Chung-rae, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly’s impeachment committee, described the ruling as a “victory for the constitution, democracy and the people”.
https://www.ft.com/content/a9c6d2c6-b4ed-4f07-961d-72e1c199d5e9
