Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae made the announcement at 11am local time:
"Given the serious negative impact and far-reaching consequences of the respondent's constitutional violations, we hereby pronounce the following ruling, with the unanimous agreement of all Justices. (We) dismiss respondent President Yoon Suk Yeol....
He committed a grave betrayal of the trust of the people, who are the sovereign members of the democratic republic...The president took actions beyond the powers. He did not merely declare martial law, but went on to commit acts that violated the Constitution and the law, including mobilizing military and police forces to obstruct the National Assembly's exercise of its authority"
In his stunning late-night declaration of martial law in December, Yoon railed against “shameless pro-North-Korean anti-state forces who are plundering the freedom and happiness of our citizens," promising that he would "eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalize the country.” Soldiers and police immediately surrounded the National Assembly, but 190 of the 300 members of parliament managed to unanimously vote to annul the martial law declaration. Yoon retracted it and apologized, but was impeached in the following days. In his Constitutional Court hearings, he said the move was necessary to "alert the public" to the "wickedness" of the opposition.
The 64-year-old Yoon may lose more than the presidency -- he has been criminally charged with insurrection, and his trial begins on April 14. His defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, is likewise in legal peril. He resigned upon being charged with insurrection, and then attempted to kill himself hours later in police custody. Lawmakers accused him of sending drones to Pyongyang, North Korea to spark retaliation and give Yoon a pretext for martial law. The country's top two law enforcement officers were also arrested.
