South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, removing him from office four months after his short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec 3. Protesters who have been demanding his ouster erupted in cheers at the ruling, waving flags and pumping their fists in the air.
The court’s acting chief justice, Moon Hyungbae, read the ruling, which came after months of deliberation. The ruling is effective immediately and cannot be appealed.
The court ruled that Yoon had “betrayed the trust of the people” and “severely violated the law”. The president had imposed martial law without proper deliberation and failed to notify the National Assembly, as required by law.
It has been reported that acting president Han Duck-soo will continue in his role until a new president is elected in a snap election, which must take place within 60 days from Friday, meaning early June at the latest.
Lee Jae-myung is the expected front-runner to lead the opposition Democratic Party. He has been Mr. Yoon’s political rival since the last presidential elections in 2022 when he lost to the former president by less than 1 percent of the votes.
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