South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment confirmed
The president protagonist of the failed self-coup has been removed. Elections within 60 days. Progressive Lee Jae-myung favoured
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2' min read
From our correspondent
NEW DELHI - South Korea's Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol for masterminding the failed self-coup on 3 December. Yoon - who is also facing a criminal trial for insurrection and was already suspended - was permanently removed from office with immediate effect. According to the Constitution, the country must elect a new president within 60 days. Until then, the country will continue to be led by Prime Minister and interim president Han Duck-soo.
With Yoon's removal, a new chapter closes in an affair that has stunned not only Seoul's historical allies, but also the overwhelming majority of the citizens of Asia's fourth economic power, which has not gone through such an extreme phase of instability for four decades. A crisis, the one triggered by Yoon's proclamation of martial law, which has effectively deprived the country of political leadership in the midst of a phase of extreme volatility, forcefully reaffirmed 48 hours ago by the new heavy tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
The challenges of the successor
.Yoon's successor will be called upon to face a completely different geopolitical and geo-economic picture than the one before the crisis erupted in December, withTrump's United States determined to extract concessions from exporting countries such as South Korea and a North Korea that, as always when a new American administration takes office, flexes its muscles. Two complex challenges, however, accompanied in recent weeks by attempts at a thaw in trilateral relations with China and Japan in an attempt to put up a united front against American tariff barriers.
With less than two months to go before the vote, the big favourite for the presidency is the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea Lee Jae-myung, who in Yoon's election in 2022 lost by the narrowest margin of votes ever and a year ago triumphed in the general election. In the weeks following Yoon's failed self-coup, Lee led the opposition parties in calling for the impeachment of the president. The last doubts about Lee's eligibility were swept away a few days ago when an appeals court acquitted him of the charge of violating election law. If convicted, he would have been automatically cut out of the presidential race.
