South Korea’s Constitutional Court Upholds Impeachment, Removes President Yoon From Office

The court votes 8-0 that the president violated the Constitution.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 23, 2025. Joen Heon-Kyun/Pool via Reuters

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has unanimously upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law decree.

Acting court chief Moon Hyung-bae read the court’s 8-0 verdict, saying that Yoon’s declaration of martial law did not meet the legal requirement for a national crisis and that Yoon violated the law by sending troops to South Korea’s parliament, the National Assembly, which has been alleged as an effort to stop a vote to lift his decree.