Seoul, South Korea – South Korea’s Constitutional Court unanimously voted to remove President Yoon Suk-yeol over his declaration of martial law late last year.
As he read the verdict in court on Friday morning, acting chief justice Moon Hyung-bae dismissed each of Yoon’s reasons for declaring martial law and said the president had overstepped his authority by deploying troops on the streets of the capital in December.
“The defendant mobilised military and police forces to dismantle the authority of constitutional institutions and infringed upon the fundamental rights of the people. In doing so, he abandoned his constitutional duty to uphold the constitution and gravely betrayed the trust of the Korean people,” Moon said.
“Such unlawful and unconstitutional conduct constitutes an act that cannot be tolerated under the constitution,” the judge said.
“The negative consequences and ripple effects of these actions are substantial, and the benefit of restoring constitutional order through removal from office outweighs the national costs associated with the dismissal of a sitting president,” he added.
Yoon claimed at the time that antistate and North Korean forces had infiltrated the government, but senior military and police officials who were sent to shut down the country’s National Assembly have testified that he ordered them to detain rival politicians and prevent the assembly from voting to lift his military rule order.
South Korea’s National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon on December 14, but they needed the approval of the Constitutional Court to formally expel him.
Yoon said on Friday that he would accept the court’s verdict.
“Dear citizens, it has been a great honour to be able to work for the Republic of Korea. I am deeply grateful to all of you who have supported and cheered for me, despite my many shortcomings,” he said.
The government now has 60 days to hold a presidential election. Acting president Han Duck-soo will remain in his position until then.
Yoon is also expected to face a series of criminal investigations, such as abuse of power. The charge of treason was the only criminal investigation that he was not shielded from while president. His removal from office has opened the possibilities of further legal accountability.
He has also been stripped of all presidential privileges, including support staff such as official aides and a driver, and he is no longer eligible for a pension amounting to 95 percent of a president’s salary.
Yoon is also now required to vacate the presidential residence and he will not be buried at the national cemetery when he passes away.
‘Citizens who make change happen’
Outside the court, the verdict was met with cheers from critics of Yoon. The pro-Yoon crowd of mostly older protesters, by contrast, was relatively quiet, with a few grumbles of “rigged election” and “corruption” rippling through the crowd.
Resident Park Heon-hyung, who was walking through the protests with his wife following the verdict, told Al Jazeera that he had “incredible respect for protesters who came day in and day out to exercise their democratic rights”.
“Even looking at our country’s past, I realised that it’s not the people in power who make differences and are capable of bringing normality to our lives; it’s the ordinary citizens who make change happen,” he said, recalling South Korea’s long road to democracy.
While South Korea is considered one of Asia’s most successful – albeit at times tumultuous – democracies, it is relatively new to the club. The country was headed by a series of military-backed dictators from 1948 until 1987, when mass protests overturned a 17-year stretch of martial law and set South Korea on the road to democracy.
Memories of military rule have lived on among many South Koreans, even decades after the country consolidated its democratic institutions.
South Korea’s track record with leaders has also been notably spotty, with numerous corruption scandals involving presidents, staff or family members.
‘Sense of relief’
Protester Chang Ug-jin told Al Jazeera that he travelled to Seoul for the verdict and slept outside the court on Thursday night.
“When the decision was finalised earlier, I couldn’t suppress my tears of joy,” he said. “It was a sign that South Korea’s democracy lives on. I can now proudly say that our country will be a standard of democracy for many other countries.”
The barricades were so large that even empty tourist buses were commandeered to fill the gaps in some streets, while the nearby subway station, local businesses and schools were also closed for the day.
An estimated 14,000 police officers remain stationed across Seoul following the verdict.
The tightened security precautions are in part a response to the violent protests that erupted in South Korea in 2017 following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, which caught authorities off guard. Four people were killed during the protests and more were injured.
Yoon’s impeachment trial has become another political lightning rod for South Korea, with protests both in favour of and against the president following his arrest in January. Yoon’s supporters stormed a court building in Seoul in January after the now ex-president’s detention was extended.
In the immediate aftermath of the verdict, other South Koreans like Shim Jae-don, who was visiting a rally with a co-worker during their lunch break, told Al Jazeera they were relieved the drama was over.
“Everyone in our office was listening to the Constitutional Court’s live decision through earphones. After the verdict was announced, there was a general sense of relief around the office. The political turmoil had put a strain on our business for the past several months,” Shim said.
While the court’s ruling passed peacefully on Friday, Yoon’s supporters and critics plan to come back to the streets this weekend in the South Korean capital. The pro-impeachment camp will hold what is essentially a celebratory rally, while also calling for a cleanup of the “supporters of treason”.
Jeon Kwang-hoon, a controversial far-right pastor popular among pro-Yoon supporters, has called on “everyone who can’t accept the impeachment to gather tomorrow at Gwanghwamun Square”.
Jeon called on millions to gather in protest on Saturday.
