South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached

This morning (March 10), a judge of the Korean Constitutional Court announced that he would uphold the decision to impeach President Park Geun-hye that the country's National Assembly had previously made.

Supporters of President Park protest outside the Constitutional Court in Seoul on March 10. Photo: Reuters.

According to Reuters news agency, with this ruling of the Constitutional Court, Ms. Park Geun-hye will be forced to leave her position before the end of her term.

Thus, Ms. Park Geun-hye has become the first democratically elected President in South Korea to be forced to leave office. According to the South Korean Constitution, within 60 days of this ruling, South Korea will hold a new presidential election.

AFP news agency quoted Constitutional Court chief justice Lee Jung-mi as saying that Ms. Park's actions "have seriously damaged the spirit of democracy and the rule of law." Mr. Lee Jung-mi affirmed that "President Park Geun-hye... has been removed from office."

The Constitutional Court's decision comes after months of political turmoil in South Korea over a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close friend, Choi Soon-sil.

Ms. Park was elected President of South Korea in 2012 with the highest number of votes ever won by a South Korean presidential candidate in democratic times.

Security was tight around the Constitutional Court in Seoul ahead of the ruling, with a heavy police presence. Anti-Park protesters and extremists were also kept away from the court area.

Mr. Chung Sye-kyun - Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea - has called for the need to quickly normalize domestic activities - which have been affected too much since Ms. Park was suspended from office last December - immediately after the Constitutional Court's ruling on Ms. Park.

According to Tuoi Tre