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South Korea Constitutional Court Confirms Impeachment of Pres Yoon & Removes Him from Office! [1]
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Date: 2025-04-03
Just in from the WSJ:
South Korea’s Constitutional Court ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law, clearing the way for a snap vote to elect a new president who will contend with deep divisions at home and rising friction with the U.S. The Constitutional Court’s eight judges voted unanimously in favor of upholding the impeachment of Yoon by the country’s legislature. Yoon cannot appeal the ruling. Following the removal of Yoon, South Korea must now hold an election within 60 days—a vote that promises to be especially contentious as the fallout from Yoon’s declaration continues to roil domestic politics. The dismissal of the 64-year-old conservative closes a tumultuous chapter in South Korean politics. Yoon shocked the nation when he declared martial law on Dec. 3, arguing the country was at risk of falling prey to North Korean “communist forces” and to a constitutional crisis owing to a political impasse in the opposition-controlled legislature. He was forced to withdraw the declaration just hours later.
What is truly remarkable here is that less than two weeks ago, the same Constitutional Court had voted 7-1 to dismiss the impeachment of Yoon’s successor, Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, and reinstated him as Acting President.
Han had been impeached by the national legislature just a couple of weeks after Yoon himself was impeached back in December, ostensibly on the charge of moving too slowly in arresting Yoon on insurrection charges and failing to appoint judges to fill three vacancies on the CC — but the Constitutional Court did not think those charges actually warranted impeachment, particularly after his successor as Acting President, Choi Sang-mok, filled two of those vacancies.
Prior to today’s announcement, Acting President Han mobilized upwards of 20,000 police to keep the peace in Seoul between huge crowds of both pro and anti-Yoon demonstrators, and so far it seems to have been successful with no reports of violence yet.
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