South Korean President Yoon removed from office over martial law order.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has unanimously voted to remove President Yoon Suk-yeol from office over his declaration of martial law late last year.

Delivering the verdict on Friday morning, acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae rejected Yoon’s justifications for imposing martial law, stating that the president had exceeded his authority by deploying troops in the capital in December.

“The defendant deployed military and police forces to undermine constitutional institutions and violate the fundamental rights of the people. In doing so, he failed in his constitutional duty to uphold the law and gravely betrayed the trust of the Korean people,” said acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae.

“This unlawful and unconstitutional conduct cannot be tolerated under the constitution,” he continued.

“The consequences and ripple effects of these actions are severe. The need to restore constitutional order through removal from office outweighs the national costs of dismissing a sitting president,” Moon concluded.

The opposition Democratic Party hailed the verdict as a “victory for the people,” while Yoon’s ruling People Power Party stated that it “humbly accepts” the court’s decision, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

“Today is a historic day when we upheld the constitution and protected democracy from those who sought to undermine it,” said Cho Seung-rae, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party.

Yoon briefly declared martial law on the night of December 3, alleging that anti-state and North Korean forces had infiltrated the government.

However, senior military and police officials tasked with shutting down the National Assembly later testified that Yoon had ordered them to detain political rivals and block the assembly from voting to overturn his military rule.