[SEOUL] A South Korean court removed President Yoon Suk-yeol from office over his ill-fated martial law declaration, paving the way for a presidential race to end a leadership vacuum that has gripped the nation for months.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling on Friday (Apr 4) immediately stripped Yoon of his powers and set in motion a presidential election to take place within the next 60 days. Right now, Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, is leading in polls as the top candidate to succeed Yoon.
The court’s decision marks a potential conclusion to one of the most turbulent political chapters in South Korea’s recent history. The next leader will be tasked with handling a slew of challenges, including contending with US President Donald Trump’s escalated global tariff campaign and dealing with a more emboldened North Korea.
In December, Yoon declared martial law, the first such order in South Korea in over 40 years. He retracted the decree hours later after lawmakers voted it down, and the president was suspended from duties days later after parliament impeached him.
Yoon’s political gamble plunged South Korea into its worst constitutional crisis in decades, leaving the export-reliant nation without clear policy direction as Trump marched into a new stage in his tariff campaign. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is currently acting president.
Yoon has denied any wrongdoing, and said the martial law decree was aimed at stopping the main opposition Democratic Party from paralysing his administration. He now faces pending results of his criminal trial over the martial law decree, a process that has been ongoing independently of the Constitutional Court case.
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Opposition leader Lee narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. A landslide win for the Democratic Party in the April parliamentary elections last year gives him a strong tailwind for another run for the presidency.
Under Lee, the Democratic Party has been looking to increase taxes on wealthy individuals and the chaebol conglomerates that dominate the country’s corporate landscape. He touts a more conciliatory approach to relations with North Korea, which might align with Trump if the US leader seeks to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Lee is more cautious about taking a hard line on China and pursuing closer relations with Japan, which could make coordination among the US and its regional allies more challenging.
Other potential candidates to succeed Yoon include Kim Moon-soo, a labor minister in Yoon’s Cabinet, and Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul. BLOOMBERG
