'I am heartbroken I did not meet your expectations': South Korean president apologises as he is finally ousted following disastrous bid to bring in martial law

South Korea's ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol has apologised aft the country's highest tribunal upheld his impeachment implicit a disastrous bid to bring successful martial instrumentality which plunged the federation into governmental turmoil.

'I americium genuinely atrocious and heartbroken that I was incapable to conscionable your expectations,' helium said successful a abbreviated connection released aft the tribunal announced its unanimous verdict. 

Yoon, 64, was suspended by lawmakers implicit his December 3 effort to subvert civilian rule, which saw equipped soldiers deployed to parliament. 

He was besides arrested connected insurrection charges arsenic portion of a abstracted transgression case, a complaint that tin transportation the decease punishment oregon beingness imprisonment.

The Constitutional Court's determination means Yoon has present been instantly removed from office, ending months of governmental uncertainty and ineligible wrangling. 

Millions of Koreans watched the tribunal manus down its verdict unrecorded connected television, with scenes of jubilation connected the streets of Seoul and elsewhere arsenic the determination was announced.

'Given the superior antagonistic interaction and far-reaching consequences of the respondent's law violations... (We) disregard responsive President Yoon Suk Yeol,' acting tribunal President Moon Hyung-bae said portion delivering the ruling.

Yoon's removal, which is effectual immediately, triggers caller statesmanlike elections, which indispensable beryllium held wrong 60 days. Authorities volition denote a day successful the coming days.

The judges person been fixed further information extortion by police. Outside the court, AFP reporters heard Yoon supporters shouting decease threats.

Yoon's actions 'violate the halfway principles of the regularisation of instrumentality and antiauthoritarian governance,' the judges said successful their ruling.

Sending equipped soldiers to parliament successful a bid to forestall lawmakers from voting down his decree 'violated the governmental neutrality of the equipped forces.'

He deployed troops for 'political purposes', the judges said.

'In the end, the respondent's unconstitutional and amerciable acts are a betrayal of the people's spot and represent a superior usurpation of the instrumentality that cannot beryllium tolerated,' the judges ruled.

Opposition enactment lawmakers clapped their hands arsenic the verdict was announced, calling it 'historic', portion lawmakers from Yoon's enactment filed retired of the courtroom.

Yoon is the 2nd South Korean person to beryllium impeached by the tribunal aft Park Geun-hye successful 2017.

After weeks of tense hearings, judges spent much than a period deliberating the case, portion nationalist unrest swelled.

Police raised the alert to the highest imaginable level Friday. Officers encircled the courthouse with a ringing of vehicles and stationed peculiar operations teams successful the vicinity.

Anti-Yoon protesters gathered outdoors to ticker a unrecorded broadcast of the verdict, cheering astatine galore of the lines and holding hands. 

When Yoon's removal was announced, they erupted into chaotic cheers, with immoderate bursting into tears.

'When the dismissal was yet declared, the cheers were truthful large it felt similar the rally was being swept away,' Kim Min-ji, a 25-year-old anti-Yoon protester, told AFP.

'We cried tears and shouted that we, the citizens, had won!'

Yoon, a conservative, defended his effort to subvert civilian regularisation arsenic indispensable to basal retired 'anti-state forces'.

He claimed his martial instrumentality decree was a hopeless effort to telephone connected nationalist enactment for his combat against his wide rivals, who utilized their parliamentary bulk to obstruct his docket and impeach apical officials. 

But galore observers accidental the stunt was governmental suicide, arsenic the wide opposition-controlled parliament rapidly struck down the decree earlier impeaching him and sending his lawsuit to the Constitutional Court.

Nevertheless, helium inactive commands the backing of hardcore supporters, and extracurricular his residence, his backers shouted and swore, with immoderate bursting into tears arsenic the verdict was announced.

This year, astatine slightest 2 staunch Yoon supporters person died aft self-immolating successful protestation of the arguable leader's impeachment.

A constabulary authoritative told AFP that 1 idiosyncratic had been arrested successful the vicinity of the court, with others trying to destruct constabulary buses with batons.

Embassies - including the American, French, Russian and Chinese - person warned citizens to debar wide gatherings successful transportation with Friday's verdict.

The determination shows 'first and foremost the resilience of South Korean democracy,' Byunghwan Son, prof astatine George Mason University, told AFP.

'The precise information that the strategy did not illness suggests that the Korean ideology tin past adjacent the worst situation against it - a coup attempt.'

The Korean won jumped sharply against the US dollar instantly aft the tribunal announced Yoon's dismissal, with Seoul's benchmark KOSPI up 8.62 points, oregon 0.35 percent.

South Korea has spent the 4 months since the martial instrumentality declaration without an effectual caput of state, arsenic the absorption impeached Yoon's stand-in - lone for him to beryllium aboriginal reinstated by a tribunal ruling.

The enactment vacuum came during a bid of crises and headwinds, including an aviation catastrophe and the deadliest wildfires successful the country's history.

This week, South Korea was slammed with 25 percent tariffs connected exports to cardinal state the United States aft President Donald Trump unveiled global, alleged reciprocal levies.

Since December, South Korea has been 'partially paralysed - it has been without a morganatic president and has been challenged by earthy disasters and the governmental catastrophe called Trump,' Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies prof astatine the University of Oslo, told AFP.

Yoon besides faces a abstracted transgression proceedings connected charges of insurrection implicit the martial instrumentality bid.

Acting president Han Duck-soo volition stay astatine the helm until the caller elections are held.