Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, orders removal from office

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. (File Photo: 윤석열/Facebook)

By Yonhap, Philippine News Agency

SEOUL – The Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, removing him from office over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

The verdict, which was read by acting court chief Moon Hyung-bae and televised live, took effect immediately, requiring the country to hold a snap presidential election to pick Yoon’s successor within 60 days, which many expect to fall on June 3.

Yoon was impeached by the opposition-controlled National Assembly in mid-December on charges of violating the Constitution and laws by declaring martial law on Dec. 3, deploying troops to the National Assembly to stop lawmakers from voting down the decree, and ordering the arrest of politicians.

“The negative effects on the constitutional order and the repercussions from the defendant’s violations of the law are grave, making the benefits of protecting the Constitution by dismissing the defendant overwhelmingly larger than the national losses from dismissing the president,” Moon said.

The ruling capped a four-month-long saga that began with Yoon’s surprise declaration of martial law and saw his arrest and subsequent release while causing considerable damage to the country’s political, economic and social fabric.

The case centered on whether he broke the law by engaging in five key actions: declaring martial law, writing up a martial law decree, deploying troops to the National Assembly, raiding the National Election Commission and attempting to arrest politicians.

The court recognized all the charges, including that he did not meet the legal requirements for declaring martial law.

Under the Constitution, a president can declare martial law during war or in an equivalent national emergency.

Yoon justified his action by accusing the main opposition party of paralyzing state affairs with repeated impeachments of officials of his administration and an attempt to cut the state budget.

The consent of at least six justices was required to uphold the impeachment motion, with eight justices currently on the bench.

The key was not only whether Yoon violated the law but also whether the violation was serious enough to warrant his dismissal.

Yoon did not appear at the court to hear the verdict.

In an address to the nation, acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed to do his best to manage the upcoming election to ensure a smooth transition to the next administration.

The ruling People Power Party said it “humbly accepts” the court’s ruling, while the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) welcomed it as a “people’s victory.”

DP leader Lee Jae-myung, widely considered the front-runner in the next presidential election, read a separate statement from the National Assembly.

“The great people recovered the great democratic republic, the Republic of Korea,” he said. “Together with the people, we will restore the destroyed people’s livelihoods, peace, economy and democracy with a spirit of grand unity.”

In addition to the impeachment trial, Yoon has been standing a criminal trial on charges of inciting an insurrection through his martial law bid.

He was detained by investigators in January and held at a detention center until March 8, when he was released following a court ruling that his detention was invalid.