In a statement after the ruling, Yoon said it had been “a great honor” to serve South Korea.
“I am deeply grateful to all of you who supported and encouraged me, despite my many shortcomings,” he said. “I am truly sorry and heartbroken that I was unable to meet your expectations.”
While calling it “deeply regrettable,” Yoon’s People Power Party said it accepted the court’s decision “with gravity and humility.”
“We firmly believe that respecting this decision is the way to uphold democracy and the rule of law,” said lawmaker Kwon Young-se, the party’s interim leader, who added that “under no circumstances should there be violence or extreme actions.”
Yoon, who was not in court for the ruling but at his presidential residence in Seoul, the capital, will now move to his private home and continue with a separate criminal trial on charges of insurrection, one of the few offenses for which South Korean presidents do not have immunity.
On the streets of Seoul, the feeling among many people NBC News interviewed was relief.
“We’ve waited so long for this. For over 110 days, many citizens couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning each night,” said Yong Hye-in, 35, a civil society activist and leader of the Basic Income Party. “I think now, finally, they’ll be able to get some rest.”
The political crisis began Dec. 3 when Yoon issued a surprise martial law order, citing threats from “anti-state forces” and accusing the opposition-controlled parliament of paralyzing the government. The late-night order included media censorship and a ban on all political activities, and it was quickly followed by the arrival of hundreds of soldiers and police officers at parliament.
Lawmakers who pushed past security cordons to enter the building voted to reject Yoon’s order, which he rescinded about six hours after it was issued. Yoon was impeached by lawmakers on Dec. 14, and arguments in his two-month impeachment trial ended in late February.
The Constitutional Court said Friday that Yoon had violated the law by sending troops to the National Assembly to stop lawmakers from blocking his order. It also said his complaints, including unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, did not constitute a national crisis that would have justified martial law.
Issues such as government paralysis and potential election fraud “should be resolved through appropriate channels, not by deploying military forces,” the judges said.
