SEOUL, South Korea, April 5, (AP): South Korea’s Constitutional Court unanimously removed Yoon Suk Yeol from office Friday, ending his tumultuous presidency and setting up a new election, four months after he threw the nation into turmoil with an ill-fated declaration of martial law. The verdict capped a dramatic fall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who became president in 2022, just a year after he entered politics.

In a nationally televised hearing, the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung-bae said the eight-member bench found Yoon’s actions were unconstitutional and had a grave impact. "By declaring martial law in breach of the constitution and other laws, the defendant brought back the history of abusing state emergency decrees, shocked the people and caused confusion in the society, economy, politics, diplomacy and all other areas,” Moon said.

"Given the negative impact on constitutional order caused by the defendant’s violation of laws and its ripple effects are grave, we find that the benefits of upholding the constitution by dismissing the defendant far outweigh the national losses from the dismissal of the president,” the justice concluded. Anti-Yoon protesters near the court erupted into tears and danced when the verdict was announced in the late morning.

Two women wept as they hugged and an old man near them leapt to his feet and screamed with joy. The crowd later marched through Seoul streets. Outside Yoon's official residence, many supporters cried, screamed and yelled at journalists when they saw the news of the verdict on a giant TV screen. But they quickly cooled down after their organizer pleaded for calm. "We will absolutely not be shaken!” a protest leader shouted on stage.

"Anyone who accepts this ruling and prepares for an early presidential election is our enemy.” No major violence has been reported by late afternoon. "Political risks related to domestic polarization and policy instability remain,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said. "But the Constitutional Court’s unanimous ruling has removed a major source of uncertainty. Korean government institutions have withstood a volatile mix of legislative obstruction and executive overreach that posed the greatest challenge to democracy in a generation.”