South Korea’s constitutional court upheld president Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on Friday and removed him from office.
The country will now hold snap elections to replace Mr Yoon in just 60 days from now.
The court found that Mr Yoon’s decision to impose martial law in December last year, which plunged the country into uncertainty and political turmoil, was not justified.
Justice Moon Hyung-bae, acting president of the constitutional court, said the country was not facing a “national emergency” at the time. “It was a situation that could have been solved through means other than military deployment,” he added.
Mr Yoon’s attorney, Yoon Gap-geun, called the court’s decision “unfair”. He said: “The whole process of this trial itself was not lawful and unfair. And the result is something that we completely don’t understand from the perspective of law.”
He added: “I feel regrettable that this completely is a political decision.”
On Friday, at an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace in Seoul, people erupted into jubilant tears and celebrated the court’s ruling. Yoon supporters, meanwhile, are expected to intensity their rallies in the wake of the ruling.
Mr Yoon’s ruling party, the People Power Party, said it accepted the court’s decision and apologised to the Korean people.
The opposition Democratic Party called the verdict a victory for the people, Yonhap news agency reported.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the 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. Now begins a compressed presidential election campaign that will stretch, if not tear, the social fabric of the country.”
South Korea’s acting president has issued an emergency order to maintain law and order in the country. Han Duck-soo will serve as the interim leader of the country until elections are held two months from now.