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 late last year. His removal takes effect immediately, meaning he must now leave the presidential residence, and will trigger an election to replace him.
It’s a remarkable fall from grace for the former prosecutor-turned-politician, who rose to prominence for his role in the impeachment and imprisonment of another president years ago – only to now meet the same fate.
The decision caps a 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.
Friday’s unanimous ruling, delivered by the Constitutional Court’s eight justices, described the president’s actions as a “grave betrayal of the people’s trust.”
In a scathing rebuke, the court’s acting head judge Moon Hyung-bae, pointed to the chaotic night of December 3, when the president sent troops to parliament and ordered soldiers to “drag out” lawmakers, noting that such actions “cannot be justified.” There was no national emergency, said Moon, and such a decree was simply unconstitutional.
Credit:CNN