Dramatic fall for former star lawyer who went from political novice to president in just a year

Seoul: Yoon Suk Yeol’s political rise was fast: the former star prosecutor clinched South Korea’s presidency only a year after he entered politics.

But his downfall was even faster: the Constitutional Court removed him from office on Friday, about four months after he made a deeply baffling decision to declare martial law and send troops to Seoul’s streets.

Yoon’s style – highly assertive and strong-willed, but often uncompromising and inflexible – worked for a prosecutor standing up to higher-ups, but not for a president forced to work with an opposition-dominated legislature on an array of contentious issues.

President Yoon Suk Yeol at a hearing in February. Credit: AP

Yoon, 64, a conservative, said his martial law decree was a desperate attempt to call on public support for his fight against “anti-state” liberal rivals who used their parliamentary majority to obstruct his agenda and impeach top officials.

But many observers say the stunt was political suicide, as the liberal opposition-controlled parliament quickly struck down Yoon’s decree before impeaching him and sending his case to the Constitutional Court. In January, Yoon was separately arrested and indicted by prosecutors for alleged rebellion in connection with his decree, a charge that carries the death penalty or a life sentence if convicted.

In a nationally televised verdict on the impeachment on Friday, the court’s acting chief, Moon Hyung-bae, said the eight-member bench upheld it because Yoon’s martial law decree seriously violated the Constitution and other laws.

Protesters opposed to Yoon erupted into tears and danced when the verdict was announced.Credit: Getty Images

“Given the grave negative impact on constitutional order and the significant ripple effects of the defendant’s violations, we find that the benefits of upholding the Constitution by removing the defendant from office far outweigh the national losses from the removal of a president,” Moon said.

At an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace that dominates downtown Seoul, people erupted into tears and danced when the verdict was announced. The crowd later began marching through Seoul streets. Some people were dressed in blue bear costumes, a protest mascot that uses the opposition’s colours.

Outside Yoon’s official residence, thousands of supporters cried and chanted slogans when they saw the news on a giant TV screen.

“We will absolutely not be shaken!” a protest leader shouted on stage. “Anyone who accepts this ruling and prepares for an early presidential election is our enemy.”

Thousands of Yoon supporters cried and chanted slogans when they saw the news.Credit: AP

‘The greatest honour of my life’

An election will be held within two months to replace Yoon, but a festering national divide over his impeachment will likely continue and could complicate South Korea’s efforts to deal with US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies and North Korea’s expanding ties with Russia.

Yoon said in a statement issued via his defence team that he deeply regretted failing to live up to the public’s expectations, but stopped short of explicitly accepting the verdict. There have been fears he would incite efforts to resist removal, as he earlier vowed to fight to the end.

He added that he would pray for the country and its people. “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve our nation,” Yoon said.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s acting leader, promised in a televised speech to ensure “there are no gaps in national security and diplomacy” and to maintain public safety and order.

“Respecting the will of our sovereign people, I will do my utmost to manage the next presidential election in accordance with the Constitution and the law, ensuring a smooth transition to the next administration,” Han said.

Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to win the byelection to choose Yoon’s successor. Lee, who is facing trials for corruption and other charges, welcomed the ruling and credited the South Korean people for “protecting our democratic republic”.

A popular prosecutor

The court’s acting chief, Moon Hyung-bae, said the eight-member bench upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws. Credit: AP

Before becoming president in 2022, Yoon worked as prosecutor for about 26 years, establishing an image as a strong-minded, uncompromising prosecutor who didn’t yield to pressure from powerful figures.

Yoon rose to stardom in 2013, when he publicly accused his boss of pressuring him to drop a high-stakes investigations into allegations that the state intelligence agency had carried out an illegal online campaign to help conservative Park Geun-hye win the previous year’s presidential election.

During a hearing at parliament, Yoon famously said, “I’m not loyal to [high-level] people.”

He was demoted, but after Park’s government was toppled over a separate corruption scandal in 2017, liberal president Moon Jae-in made Yoon head of a Seoul prosecutors’ office that investigated Park and other conservative leaders. Yoon was later appointed as Moon’s prosecutor-general.

Police officers stand guard near Yoon supporters. Credit: Bloomberg

Political rookie of the year

In 2021, Yoon left the Moon administration and entered politics following disputes over probes of Moon allies. Moon’s supporters accused Yoon of attempting to frustrate Moon’s push to reform the Korean prosecution service and boost his political standing. Yoon, for his part, called the Moon government “corrupt”, “incompetent” and “arrogant”.

Yoon then joined the opposition People Power Party, the country’s biggest conservative party, whose leaders he previously investigated, as it was looking to embrace a popular outside figure to lead its fight to regain power in the following year’s presidential election.

In 2022, in his first national election campaign, Yoon defeated Lee in the country’s most closely fought presidential election.

The election race got nasty, with Yoon describing Lee’s party as “Hitler” and “Mussolini” while an associate called Lee’s purported aides “parasites”. Lee’s allies called Yoon “a beast”, a “dictator” and “an empty can” and derided his wife over claims she had had plastic surgery.

A turbulent presidency

On foreign policy, Yoon was credited with working hard to reinforce South Korea’s military alliance with the United States and repairing disputes with Japan over historical traumas to build a stronger trilateral security partnership to cope with North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.

In April 2023, Yoon charmed a White House state dinner by singing American Pie at the request of then-president Joe Biden. In August 2023, Yoon, Biden and Japan’s then-prime minister Fumio Kishida met at Camp David in their countries’ first stand-alone trilateral summit, where they agreed to bolster defence co-operation. Yoon and Kishida revived stalled high-level talks and withdrew reciprocal economic restrictions imposed under their predecessors.

But domestically, Yoon’s time in office was marred by near-constant political strife with Lee’s party, unprecedented even in South Korea’s deeply polarised political world.

With control of the National Assembly, the Democratic Party filed a total of 30 impeachment motions against senior officials. None has yet been upheld by the Constitutional Court, except that of Yoon. The Yoon administration vetoed opposition-led bills about 40 times.

Eventually, Yoon tried to break through the gridlock by declaring martial law. Hundreds of soldiers were dispatched to the assembly, election offices and other sites. He says that it was an attempt to appeal for the public’s help to overcome the “wickedness” of the Democratic Party. Critics say he was simply aiming to use force to impose his will on the legislature.

In his martial law announcement, the first of its kind in more than 40 years, Yoon called the Democratic Party-led assembly “a den of criminals”, “a monster” and “anti-state forces”. Democratic Party leaders lambasted Yoon’s martial law, calling him “an alcoholic”, “a madman” and “ringleader of a rebellion”.

Ultimately, enough lawmakers, including some from the ruling party, managed to enter the assembly to vote down his decree unanimously. Yoon was impeached by the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly on December 14.

Wife hit by scandals

Some observers say the martial law decree was more likely driven by Yoon’s hopes to frustrate an opposition-led bid to open a special investigation into allegations involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Kim’s allegations include spy camera footage showing the first lady accepting a luxury bag as a gift from a pastor; speculation she was involved in a stock price manipulation scheme; and revelations that she, along with Yoon, exerted inappropriate influence on the People Power Party to pick a candidate to run for a parliamentary by-election in 2022.

Kim’s scandals and Yoon’s refusal to apologise and accept investigations provided the Democratic Party political ammunition throughout his term.

AP

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