by Yoo Seung-ki

SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was ousted from office Friday as the constitutional court upheld a motion by the parliament to impeach Yoon over his short-lived martial law imposition last December.

Moon Hyung-bae, acting chief of the court, read a ruling on Yoon's impeachment, which was broadcast live nationwide, saying it was a unanimous decision of eight justices.

Moon said Yoon broke his duty of protecting the constitution as he damaged the constitutional institutions, such as the National Assembly, and violated the basic rights of people by mobilizing the military and the police.

Moon stressed that the benefit of protecting the constitution through Yoon's dismissal will overwhelmingly exceed the national loss from his dismissal.

Yoon declared an emergency martial law on the night of Dec. 3 last year, but it was revoked by the opposition-led National Assembly hours later.

Throughout the midnight hours of the botched martial law attempt, military helicopters landed at the National Assembly and hundreds of armed special forces troops broke into the parliamentary building.

By law, the ruling comes into force immediately after the reading, and a snap presidential election is required to be held within 60 days. The election is expected to fall in late May or early June.

The conservative leader officially lost all presidential power, becoming the country's second sitting president to be forcibly removed from power following former conservative President Park Geun-hye's ouster through impeachment in 2017.

Yoon also became the third leader to be impeached by the National Assembly in the country's constitutional history. Late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun was reinstated in the presidency after impeachment in 2004.

Since the passage of Yoon's impeachment motion on Dec. 14 last year, a total of 11 hearings have been held in the constitutional court until Feb. 25.

It took 111 days before the court's final verdict, compared to 92 days for Park's impeachment and 64 days for Roh's impeachment.

Yoon was apprehended in the presidential office on Jan. 15 and was indicted under detention on Jan. 26 as a suspected ringleader of insurrection, becoming the country's first sitting president to be arrested and prosecuted.

If convicted of the insurrection ringleader, Yoon could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

He was released on March 8 as the prosecution decided not to appeal against a court's release approval.

Yoon will be stripped of most privileges granted to a former president, including a monthly pension, one chauffeur and three secretaries. Free medicine and the cost of a personal office will not be given to him.

For the forcibly ousted president, the period during which the presidential security service provides guards will be reduced from 10 years to five years. After the five-year period, police officers will guard Yoon and his wife.

Kwon young-se, interim chief of the ruling People Power Party, apologized to people over the constitutional court's decision, saying his party will take it seriously and humbly accept it.

He emphasized that there should never be violence or extreme action in any case, calling on supporters to overcome the current crisis in peace and order.

Lee Jae-myung, chief of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, expressed his sincere respect for and gratitude to ordinary people who stood against soldiers and armored vehicles at the time of martial law imposition.

The most-favored presidential hopeful added that the unarmed people dramatically revived democracy by peacefully confronting the armed forces, vowing to do his best to prevent the repeated tragedy of the constitution's destruction.

Following the impeachment verdict, anti-Yoon demonstrators were seen crying tears of joy, hugging each other and cheering in celebration near the constitutional court, with some holding signs that read "Immediately dismiss Yoon, the ringleader of insurrection."

Yoon's supporters, who rallied just hundreds of meters away on the street, reacted furiously. A man wearing a helmet and a gas mask was caught red-handed after breaking the window of a police bus, parked for a police line along the court, with a club.

Hemmed in by police officers, other supporters burst into tears, rocked barricades and even swore at riot policemen.

A recent Gallup Korea survey showed that almost six out of 10 South Koreans consented to Yoon's ouster while 37 percent objected to his impeachment.

It was based on a poll of 1,001 voters conducted from Tuesday to Thursday. It had a plus and minus 3.1 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

Security was ramped up nationwide. The police issued the highest level of emergency order to deploy about 20,000 riot policemen across the country for expected protests and crowd control.

Of the total, some 14,000 riot policemen were deployed in Seoul to prevent possible conflicts near the constitutional court, the presidential residence and the parliament.

Police commandos, as well as paramedics and ambulances, were on standby around the court to respond to possible emergencies. Enditem

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