South Korea’s impeached president removed from office

The South Korean 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 South Korean Yonhap news agency reported.

The verdict took effect immediately.

It requires the country to hold a snap presidential election to pick Yoon's successor within 60 days, which many expect to fall on June 3, Yonhap reported.

Yoon was impeached by the opposition-controlled National Assembly in mid-December 2024 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, according to Yonhap.

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.

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