Supporters of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea at a protest near the Constitutional Court on Friday, before the court issued a ruling to oust her. Her removal from the presidency capped months of turmoil.CreditKim Hong-Ji/Reuters
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court removed the president on Friday, a first in the nation’s history, rattling the delicate balance of relationships across Asia at a particularly tense time.
Her removal capped months of turmoil, as hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets, week after week, to protest a sprawling corruption scandal that shook the top echelons of business and government.
Park Geun-hye, the nation’s first female president and the daughter of the Cold War military dictator Park Chung-hee, had been an icon of the conservative establishment that joined Washington in pressing for a hard line against North Korea’s nuclear provocations.
Now, her downfall is expected to shift South Korean politics to the opposition, whose leaders want more engagement with North Korea and are wary of a major confrontation in the region. They say they will re-examine the country’s joint strategy on North Korea with the United States and defuse tensions with China, which has sounded alarms about the growing American military footprint in Asia.
Ms. Park’s powers were suspended in December after a legislative impeachment vote, though she continued to live in the presidential Blue House, largely alone and hidden from public view, while awaiting the decision by the Constitutional Court. The house had been her childhood home: She first moved in at the age of 9 and left it nearly two decades later after her mother and father were assassinated in separate episodes.
Eight justices of the Constitutional Court unanimously decided to unseat Ms. Park for committing “acts that violated the Constitution and laws” throughout her time in office, Acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi said in a ruling that was nationally broadcast.
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Judges at the impeachment ruling at the Constitutional Court on Friday. The downfall of Ms. Park is expected to shift South Korean politics to leaders who want more engagement with the North.CreditYonhap, via European Pressphoto Agency
Ms. Park’s acts “betrayed the trust of the people and were of the kind that cannot be tolerated for the sake of protecting the Constitution,” Justice Lee said.
As the verdict was announced, silence fell over thousands of Park supporters who rallied near the courthouse waving South Korean flags. Soon, they tried to march on the court and called for “destroying” it. When the police blocked them, some of the mostly elderly protesters attacked the officers with flagpoles, hurling water bottles and pieces of the sidewalk pavement. Two pro-Park demonstrators, ages 60 and 72, died during the unrest.
Ms. Park did not comment on the ruling, and remained in the presidential palace after her removal from power. But In Myung-jin, the leader of Ms. Park’s conservative Liberty Korea Party, said he “humbly respected” the ruling.
With the immunity conferred by her office now gone, Ms. Park, 65, faces prosecutors seeking to charge her with bribery, extortion and abuse of power in connection with allegations of conspiring with a confidante, her childhood friend Choi Soon-sil, to collect tens of millions of dollars in bribes from companies like Samsung.
By law, the country must elect a new president within 60 days. The acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, an ally of Ms. Park’s, will remain in office in the interim. The Trump administration is rushing a missile defense system to South Korea so that it can be in place before the election.
After the ruling, Mr. Hwang called key Cabinet ministers to put the nation on a heightened state of military readiness, saying the lack of a president represented a national “emergency.” He also warned North Korea against making “additional provocations.”
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Celebrating after the verdict by the Constitutional Court in Seoul, the capital, on Friday. By law, the country must elect a new president within 60 days.CreditChung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
In a sign of how far South Korea’s young democracy has evolved, Ms. Park was removed without any violence, after large, peaceful protests in recent months demanding that she step down. In addition to the swell of popular anger, the legislature and the judiciary — two institutions that have been weaker than the presidency historically — were crucial to the outcome.
“This is a miracle, a new milestone in the strengthening and institutionalizing of democracy in South Korea,”said Kang Won-taek, a political scientist at Seoul National University.
When crowds took to the streets, they were not just seeking to remove a leader who had one year left in office. They were also rebelling against a political order that had held South Korea together for decades but is now fracturing under pressures both at home and abroad, analysts said.
Ms. Park’s father ruled South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He founded its economic growth model, which transformed the nation into an export powerhouse and allowed the emergence of family-controlled conglomerates known as chaebol that benefited from tax cuts and anti-labor policies.
Ms. Park was elected in 2012 with the support of older conservative South Koreans who revered her father for the country’s breakneck economic growth.
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Supporters of Ms. Park trying to pass the barricade of police buses to protest the ruling. As the verdict was announced, silence fell over the supporters who rallied near the courthouse.CreditJung Ui-Chel/European Pressphoto Agency
But the nexus of industry and political power gave rise to collusive ties, highlighted by the scandal that led to Ms. Park’s fall.
Samsung, the nation’s largest conglomerate, has been tainted by corruption before. But the company has been considered too important to the economy for any of its top leaders to spend time behind bars — until now. The jailing of Mr. Lee, who is facing trial, is another potent sign that the old order is not holding.
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In the wake of the Park scandal, all political parties have vowed to curtail presidential power to pardon chaebol tycoons convicted of white-collar crimes. They also promised to stop chaebol chairmen from helping their children amass fortunes through dubious means, like forcing their companies to do exclusive business with the children’s businesses.
With the conservatives discredited — and no leading conservative candidate to succeed Ms. Park — the left could take power for the first time in a decade. The dominant campaign issues will probably be North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and South Korea’s relations with the United States and China.
If the opposition takes power, it may try to revive its old “sunshine policy” of building ties with North Korea through aid and exchanges, an approach favored by China. That would complicate Washington’s efforts to isolate the North at a time other Asian nations like the Philippines are gravitating toward Beijing.
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Supporters of Ms. Park scuffling with the police. Some officers were attacked with flagpoles, water bottles and pieces of the sidewalk pavement.CreditJung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Moon Jae-in, the Democratic Party leader who is leading in opinion surveys, has said that a decade of applying sanctions on North Korea had failed to stop its nuclear weapons programs. He has said that sanctions are necessary, but that “their goal should be to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table.”
He believes that Ms. Park’s decision to allow the deployment of the American missile defense system — known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad — has dragged the country into the dangerous and growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing; China has called the system a threat to its security and taken steps to punish South Korea economically for accepting it.
Conservative South Koreans see the deployment of the antimissile system not only as a guard against the North but also as a symbolic reaffirmation of the all-important alliance with the United States. Mr. Moon’s party demands that the deployment, which began this week, be suspended immediately. If it takes power, it says it will review the deployment of the antimissile system to determine if it is in South Korea’s best interest.
As South Korea has learned, it cannot always keep Washington and Beijing happy at the same time, as in the case of the country’s decision to accept the American missile defenses.
Yet Ms. Park’s impeachment was also a pushback against “Cold War conservatives” like her father, who seized on Communist threats from North Korea to hide their corruption and silence political opponents, said Kim Dong-choon, a sociologist at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul.
“Her removal means that the curtain is finally drawing on the authoritarian political and economic order that has dominated South Korea for decades,” said Ahn Byong-jin, rector of the Global Academy for Future Civilizations at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.
Analysts cautioned that political and economic change will come slowly.
As Mr. Moon put it recently: “We need a national cleanup. We need to liquidate the old system and build a new South Korea. only then can we complete the revolution started by the people who rallied with candlelight.”
South Korea president Park Geun-hye ousted by court
Media captionThere have been scenes of anger outside the Seoul court
South Korea's President Park Geun-hye has become the country's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office.
Judges unanimously upheld parliament's decision to impeach Ms Park over her role in a corruption scandal involving her close friend, Choi Soon-sil.
She now loses her presidential immunity and could face criminal charges.
There have been angry scenes outside the court. Police said two protesters had died.
The court ruling is the culmination of months of political turmoil and public protest. An election must now be held within 60 days.
Ms Park's office said she would not be leaving the Blue House, South Korea's presidential palace, on Friday nor making any statement.
Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn has called for calm, saying the government should remain stable to prevent internal conflict from spreading.
Why did Park lose her job?
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionMs Park has also lost her presidential immunity and can be prosecuted
At the heart of the drama lies the close friendship between the president and Ms Choi.
Ms Choi is accused of using her presidential connections to pressure companies to give millions of dollars in donations to non-profit foundations she controlled.
Ms Park is alleged to have been personally involved in this, and to have given Ms Choi unacceptable levels of access to official documents.
Parliament voted to impeach Ms Park in December and the Constitutional Court has since been deciding whether to uphold or overturn this.
On Friday, a panel of eight judges ruled Ms Park's actions "seriously impaired the spirit of... democracy and the rule of law".
The court said she had broken the law by allowing Ms Choi to meddle in state affairs, and had breached guidelines on official secrets by leaking numerous documents.
Ms Park had "concealed completely Choi's meddling in state affairs and denied it whenever suspicions over the act emerged and even criticised those who raised the suspicions," it said.
But the judges dismissed some charges, including accusations Ms Park had infringed on freedom of the press by creating a media blacklist of cultural figures, and criticism of her response during the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster.
Ms Park was already suspended from presidential duties, with the prime minister taking over her responsibilities.
But she must now leave office - and her official residence - and a presidential election will be held within the next 60 days.
She has also lost her presidential immunity so could now face criminal charges over allegations she colluded with Ms Choi.
What has been the reaction?
Image copyrightEPAImage captionPark supporters turned on police vans outside the court
As the various twists and turns of the scandal came to light public fury across South Korea intensified, with many staging demonstrations calling for her to step down.
The final decision is being celebrated by many, but as the verdict came through angry scenes erupted outside court. Pro-Park protesters - mostly older conservatives - turned on police. Two people believed to be pro-Park died.
South Korea's Yon hap news agency reported that one was killed when a loudspeaker fell on them, while an elderly man fell from a police van.
Besides a possible criminal trial for Ms Park, there is also the ongoing prosecution of Ms Choi.
The de-facto head of Samsung, Lee Jae-yong, is also on trial for a string of corruption charges linked to the scandal.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionMs Choi (centre) has been accused of bribery and corruption
Analysts say the protests in recent months have sent a strong signal that the close relationship between politicians and the chaebols - large family businesses that dominate the economy - needs to change.
A new election could change the political landscape of South Korea. But society remains deeply divided.
At the scene - Stephen Evans, BBC News, Seoul
The moment the judgement was announced, there was cheering in the streets. But there is also pro-Park feeling.
The country is split and nobody quite knows what will happen. one argument is that if a court can remove a president, democracy is not weak.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionDistraught supporters of Ms Park wept outside the constitutional court in Seoul after the verdict was announced
The outcome is uncertain, but polls indicate a leftward shift. If the government does move to the left, that has consequences for the relationship with North Korea and the United States.
A leftish government might well re-open the industrial complex just inside North Korea, but with South Korean firms and managers. It might also seek more contact with North Korea, running counter to recent US-South Korean policy.
There is also a personal tragedy here. Ms Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the general who seized power in 1961 and who set the country on a route towards industrialisation. He was assassinated, as was her mother.
She has lived an isolated life ever since, even as president. She has relied on her best friend for 40 years - Choi Soon-sil.
The friendship has cost her the presidency and an honourable place in history. It may now put her behind bars.
