SEOUL: South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, ending his tumultuous presidency and setting up an election to find a new leader, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil with an ill-fated declaration of martial law.
The unanimous verdict capped a dramatic fall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who went from political novice to president in 2022, just a year after he entered politics.
In a nationally televised verdict, the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung-bae said the eight-member bench upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws.
“The defendant not only declared martial law, but also violated the constitution and laws by mobilizing military and police forces to obstruct the exercise of legislative authority,” Moon said, “Ultimately, the declaration of martial law in this case violated the substantive requirements for emergency martial law.”
“Given the grave negative impact on constitutional order and the significant ripple effects of the defendant’s violations, we find that the benefits of upholding the constitution by removing the defendant from office far outweigh the national losses from the removal of a president,” the justice concluded.
PROTESTERS ERUPT IN JUBILATION AND SORROW
At an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace that dominates downtown Seoul, people erupted into tears and danced when the verdict was announced. Two women wept as they hugged and an old man near them leapt to his feet and screamed with joy.
The crowd later began marching through Seoul streets. Some people were dressed in cute blue bear costumes, a protest mascot that uses the opposition’s colors.
Outside Yoon’s official residence, thousands of supporters cried and screamed when they saw the news of the verdict on a giant TV screen. They waved South Korean and US flags and chanted slogans.
“We will absolutely not be shaken!” a protest leader shouted on stage. “Anyone who accepts this ruling and prepares for an early presidential election is our enemy.”
No major violence was immediately reported.
KOREA FACES AN ELECTION WITH DEEP DIVISIONS
An election will be held within two months to replace Yoon, but a festering national divide over Yoon’s impeachment will likely continue and could complicate South Korea’s efforts to deal with President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies and North Korea’s expanding ties with Russia, observers say.
Yoon said in a statement issued via his defense team that he feels great regret for failing to live up public expectations.
He added that he will pray for the country and its people. “It has been a great honor to be able to work for the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.
Yoon’s ruling People Power Party said it would accept the decision, but one of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun, called the ruling “completely incomprehensible” and a “pure political decision.”
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s acting leader, vowed in a televised speech to ensure “there are no gaps in national security and diplomacy” and maintain public safety and order. Han was appointed prime minister, the country’s No.2 official, by Yoon.
“Respecting the will of our sovereign people, I will do my utmost to manage the next presidential election in accordance with the constitution and the law, ensuring a smooth transition to the next administration,” Han said.
Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favorite to win the by-election to choose Yoon’s successor. Lee is facing trials for corruption and other charges.
Lee welcomed the ruling and credited the South Korean people for “protecting our democratic republic.”
“The courage of the people who stood in the face of guns, swords and tanks, along with the bravery of troops who refused to obey unjust orders, has led to this great revolution of light,” Lee said.
CRISIS STARTED WITH A NIGHT OF CHAOS FOUR MONTHS AGO
Martial law lasted only six hours, but left behind a political crisis, rattling financial markets and unsettling the country’s diplomatic partners. In January, Yoon was separately arrested and indicted by prosecutors on alleged rebellion in connection with his decree, a charge that carries the death penalty or a life sentence if convicted.
Under Yoon’s decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years, hundreds of soldiers were dispatched to the assembly, election offices and other sites. Special operations soldiers smashed windows at the National Assembly and scuffled with citizens gathered to protest, shocking South Koreans and evoking traumatic memories of military rule.
Enough lawmakers, including some from the ruling party, managed to enter the assembly to vote down his decree unanimously.
No major violence occurred during the brief period of martial law, but some senior military and police officers sent to the assembly have testified that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to block a vote on his decree or to detain his political rivals. Yoon says the troops were deployed to the assembly simply to maintain order.
Yoon, 64, a conservative, was impeached by the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly on Dec. 14. The assembly accused him of violating the constitution and other laws by suppressing assembly activities, attempting to detain politicians, and undermining peace across the country.
In his final testimony at the Constitutional Court hearing, Yoon said his decree was a desperate attempt to draw public support of his fight against the “wickedness” of the Democratic Party, which had obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed the government’s budget bill. He earlier called the National Assembly “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”
YOON STILL FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES
Some experts say Yoon may have imposed military rule to head off a possible independent investigation into scandals involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.
Without presidential immunity, Yoon could face other criminal charges, such as abuse of power. He’s the first South Korean president to be arrested or indicted while in office.
Yoon served as prosecutor-general under his predecessor, liberal President Moon Jae-in, before joining the now-ruling party in 2021 following disputes with Moon allies. A public image as strong-minded and uncompromising helped him defeat Lee in the close-fought 2022 presidential election. But after becoming president, Yoon has faced criticism that he refused to replace officials implicated in scandals and vetoed many bills passed by the assembly.
On foreign policy, Yoon pushed hard to bolster South Korea’s military alliance with the United States and overcome long-running disputes with Japan over historical traumas. He said that a greater Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security partnership is essential to coping with North Korea’s growing nuclear threats. Critics of Yoon accused him of unnecessarily provoking North Korea and neglecting relations with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office over declaration of martial law
https://arab.news/myd68
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office over declaration of martial law
- The unanimous verdict capped a dramatic fall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who went from political novice to president in 2022, just a year after he entered politics
- In a televised verdict, the court’s acting chief said the bench upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws
European countries vow billions in military support for Ukraine as US envoy meets Putin
- British Defense Secretary John Healey said that new pledges of military aid totaled over 21 billion euros ($24 billion)
- Ukraine has endorsed a US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions
BRUSSELS: European countries vowed Friday to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep fighting Russia’s invasion, as a US envoy pursued peace efforts in a trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war.
Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, with the war now in its fourth year. Ukraine has endorsed a US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet.
“Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war, US President Donald Trump posted on social media. He said the war is “terrible and senseless.”
In Russia, the Kremlin said Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg. Witkoff, who has been pressing the Kremlin to accept a truce, initially met with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, footage released by Russian media showed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff during his visit to Russia was discussing efforts to end the war with Putin and other officials. “This is another step in the negotiating process toward a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal,” she said.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Witkoff’s meeting with Putin lasted 4 1/2 hours, and cited the Kremlin as saying that the two discussed “aspects” of ending the war, without providing any details.
After chairing a meeting of Ukraine’s Western backers in Brussels, British Defense Secretary John Healey said that new pledges of military aid totaled over 21 billion euros ($24 billion), “a record boost in military funding for Ukraine, and we are also surging that support to the frontline fight.”
Healey gave no breakdown of that figure, and Ukraine has in the past complained that some countries repeat old offers at such pledging conferences or fail to deliver real arms and ammunition worth the money they promise.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that Ukraine’s backers have provided around $21 billion so far in the first three months of this year. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Friday that more than $26 billion have been committed.
Ahead of the “contact group” meeting at NATO headquarters, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said a key issue was strengthening his country’s air defenses.
Standing alongside Healey at the end of it, Umerov described the meeting as “productive, effective and efficient,” and said that it produced “one of the largest” packages of assistance Ukraine has received. “We’re thankful to each nation that has provided this support,” he said.
Britain said that in a joint effort with Norway just over $580 million would be spent to provide hundreds of thousands of military drones, radar systems and anti-tank mines, as well as repair and maintenance contracts to keep Ukrainian armored vehicles on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his appeals for more Patriot systems since 20 people were killed a week ago, including nine children, when a Russian missile tore through apartment buildings and blasted a playground in his home town.
Zelensky joined Friday’s meeting by video link.
Russia holds off agreeing to ceasefire
The Russian delay in accepting Washington’s proposal has frustrated Trump and fueled doubts about whether Putin really wants to stop the fighting while his bigger army has momentum on the battlefield.
“Russia continues to use bilateral talks with the United States to delay negotiations about the war in Ukraine, suggesting that the Kremlin remains uninterested in serious peace negotiations to end the war,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment late Thursday.
Washington remains committed to securing a peace deal, even though four weeks have passed since it made its ceasefire proposals, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
“It is a dynamic that will not be solved militarily. It is a meat grinder,” Bruce said Thursday about the war, adding that “nothing else can be discussed … until the shooting and the killing stops.”
Observers expect a new Russian offensive
Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe Russia is preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in coming weeks to ramp up pressure and strengthen the Kremlin’s hand in the negotiations.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country would provide Ukraine with four IRIS-T short- to medium-range systems with missiles, as well as 30 missiles for use on Patriot batteries. The Netherlands plans to supply a Hawkeye air defense system, an airborne early warning aircraft.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said that his country is monitoring the world armaments market and sees opportunities for Ukraine’s backers to buy more weapons and ammunition.
Pevkur said he believes Putin might try to reach some kind of settlement with Ukraine by May 9 — the day that Russia marks victory during World War II — making it even more vital to strengthen Kyiv’s position now.
“This is why we need to speed up the deliveries as quickly as we can,” he said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was absent from the forum that the United States created and led for several years, although he spoke via video.
At the last contact group meeting in February, Hegseth warned Ukraine’s European backers that the US now has priorities elsewhere — in Asia and on America’s own borders — and that they would have to take care of their own security, and that of Ukraine, in future.
Judge says US can deport pro-Palestinian student protester
- Immigration judge rules that Mahmoud Khalil is removable under US immigration law
JENA, United States: An immigration judge ruled Friday that a pro-Palestinian student protester, a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration, can be deported, US media and a legal rights group said.
Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans said the government had met its burden to prove it had grounds to deport him, Fox News reported.
“An immigration judge ruled immediately after a hearing today that Mahmoud Khalil is removable under US immigration law,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
Khalil, a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel’s war in Gaza who is married to a US citizen, was arrested and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests. Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.
Comans had ordered the government to spell out its case against Khalil, who the government is seeking to deport on the grounds that his protest activities are a threat to national security.
In a letter to the court, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Khalil’s activism could hurt Washington’s foreign policy.
But he declined to argue formally that the Algeria-born Palestinian student was Hamas-aligned, as officials have told journalists.
The undated letter instead referred to Khalil’s “participation and roles” in allegedly “anti-Semitic protests and disruptive activities which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
It made no reference to any alleged crime.
Ahead of the hearing, one of Khalil’s lawyers Marc Van Der Hout said Thursday that he would “be contesting the evidence.”
Chinese president calls on Western countries to support multilateralism
- Xi made no direct mention of Trump or the tariffs totaling 145 percent the US is imposing on Chinese goods, but he referred to “multiple risks and challenges” facing the world that can only be dealt with through “unity and cooperation”
BEIJING: China calls on Western countries to work to support multilateralism and open cooperation, President Xi Jinping told Spain’s visiting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday.
“The two sides should promote the building of a fair and reasonable global governance system, maintain world peace and security, and promote common development and prosperity,” Xi told Sanchez at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, according to a readout of the meeting by the Xinhua News Agency.
The visit comes at a complex moment for Europe and China. The tariffs announced last week — and then paused — by US President Donald Trump could mean that the European Union pursues more trade with China, the world’s third-largest consumer market after the US and the EU.
Xi made no direct mention of Trump or the tariffs totaling 145 percent the US is imposing on Chinese goods, but he referred to “multiple risks and challenges” facing the world that can only be dealt with through “unity and cooperation.”
Sanchez is making his third trip to the country in two years as his government seeks to boost investment from the Asian giant.
He was also expected to meet with business leaders from several Chinese companies, many of which produce electric batteries or renewable energy technologies.
After meeting Xi, Sanchez said Spain favored “more balanced relations between the EU and China, of finding negotiated solutions to our differences, which we have, and of greater cooperation in common interest.”
He added: “Trade wars are not good, nobody wins. And this is clear; the world needs China and the US to talk.”
Spain’s government spokesperson Pilar Alegría said earlier this week that Sanchez’s trip “has special importance” and is an opportunity to “diversify markets” as Spain faces US tariffs.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called out Spain for its move toward China, saying on Tuesday that Spain — or any country that tries to get closer to China — would be “cutting their own throat” because Chinese manufacturers will be looking to dump goods that they cannot sell in the US.
“Expanding the trade relations that we have with other countries, including a partner as important as China, does not go against anyone,” Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas, who is accompanying Sanchez, said in Vietnam on Wednesday.
“Everyone has to defend their interests,” Planas said.
Spain — the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy and a leader in growth — has been less adversarial toward China in recent years than other EU countries.
After initially supporting EU tariffs placed last year on Chinese-made electric vehicles over concerns that they enjoy unfair advantages, Spain abstained from a vote on the proposal.
Planas insisted that Spain’s approach to China “contributes to the collective effort made by certain countries in the European Union to get out of this situation.”
While China’s investments in Spain have grown, the Iberian nation trades less with China than Germany or Italy.
“Spain’s position has changed to be more pro-China ... than the average European country,” said Alicia García-Herrero, an economist for Asia Pacific at the French investment bank Natixis and an expert on Europe’s relations with China.
The Southern European country, which generated 56 percent of its electricity last year from renewable sources, needs Chinese critical raw materials, solar panels, and green technologies — similar to other European countries transitioning from fossil fuels.
In December, Chinese electric battery company CATL announced a €4.1 billion($4.5 billion) joint venture with automaker Stellantis to build a battery factory in northern Spain. That followed deals signed last year between Spain and Chinese companies Envision and Hygreen Energy to build green hydrogen infrastructure in the country.
García-Herrero, the economist at French bank Natixis, stressed the political value of the trip for Sánchez at a time when his leftist minority coalition lacks the support needed to get much passed at home and while Europe may be looking to thaw its strained relations with China.
For Spain, the key thing is “to get a leadership position in Europe at a time when the transatlantic alliance is not only at risk but in shambles,” she said.
UN aid chief says to cut 20% of staff due to funding shortfall
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month announced a new initiative to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis
NEW YORK: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will cut 20 percent of its staff as it faces a shortfall of $58 million, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has told staff after OCHA’s largest donor — the US — cut funding.
OCHA “currently has a workforce of around 2,600 staff in over 60 countries. The funding shortfall means we are looking to regroup to an organization of around 2,100 staff in fewer locations,” Fletcher wrote in a note.
OCHA works to mobilize aid, share information, support aid efforts, and advocate for those in need during a crisis. It relies heavily on voluntary contributions.
FASTFACT
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs mobilizes aid, shares information, supports aid efforts, and advocates for those in need during a crisis.
“The US alone has been the largest humanitarian donor for decades, and the biggest contributor to OCHA’s program budget,” Fletcher said, noting that its annual contribution of $63 million would have accounted for 20 percent of OCHA’s extrabudgetary resources in 2025.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month announced a new initiative to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.
Fletcher said OCHA would “focus more of our resources in the countries where we work” but would work in fewer places.
OCHA “will scale back our presence and operations in Cameroon, Colombia, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Gaziantep (in Turkiye) and Zimbabwe,” Fletcher said.
“As we all know, these exercises are driven by funding cuts announced by member states and not by a reduction of needs,” he said.
“Humanitarian needs are on the rise and have perhaps never been higher, driven by conflicts, climate crises, disease, and the lack of respect of international humanitarian law.”
‘Rejected migrants’ moved to detention centers in Albania
- Italy’s government of Premier Giorgia Meloni approved a decree last month that expanded the use of the Albanian fast-track asylum processing centers to include the detention of rejected asylum-seekers with deportation orders
SHENGJIN: Italian authorities on Friday transferred 40 migrants with no permission to remain in the country to Italian-run migration detention centers in Albania.
It was the first time a EU country sent rejected migrants to a nation outside the EU that is neither their own nor a country they had transited on their journey, migration experts said.
A military ship with the migrants departed the Italian port of Brindisi and arrived hours later in the Albanian port of Shengjin, about 65 km northeast of the capital, Tirana.
FASTFACT
A military ship with the migrants departed the Italian port of Brindisi and arrived hours later in the Albanian port of Shengjin, about 65 km northeast of the capital, Tirana.
The migrants were seen being transferred in buses and minivans under heavy security to an Italian-run center in Shengjin, where they will be processed before being transferred to a second center in Gjader, also run by Italian authorities.
The Italian government has not released their nationalities or further details.
Both facilities in Shengjin and Gjader were initially built to process asylum requests of people intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by Italy.
But since their inauguration in October, Italian courts have stopped authorities from using them, and small groups of migrants sent there have returned to Italy.
Italy’s government of Premier Giorgia Meloni approved a decree last month that expanded the use of the Albanian fast-track asylum processing centers to include the detention of rejected asylum-seekers with deportation orders.
It is not clear how long the migrants may be held in Albania. They can be detained in Italy for up to 18 months pending deportation.
Meloni’s novel approach to expel the migrants echoes US President Donald Trump’s recent deportations of migrants of various nationalities to Panama.
It’s also in line with a recent EU Commission proposal that, if passed, would allow EU members to set up so-called “return hubs” abroad.
Some experts and rights groups question the transfers Migration experts say it was unclear how legal Italy’s actions were.
Meghan Benton of the Migration Policy Institute said the move likely will be challenged in court.
Speaking from Toulouse, France, Benton said other EU countries are interested in doing the same, including the Netherlands with Uganda.
Francesco Ferri, a migration expert with ActionAid, who was among a group of nongovernmental organizations and Italian lawmakers visiting Albania to follow the migrant transfer, said Italian authorities have failed to clarify what happens to the migrants once they’re in Albania. He said there is no legislation in Italian law, EU law, or the Albania-Italy agreement that would allow rejected asylum-seekers to be deported directly from Albania, making the purpose of the transfer unclear.
“For us, it is unacceptable,” Ferri said.
The Albanian centers opened in October, but they remained substantially inactive due to legal hurdles and broad opposition from human rights associations, which believe they violate international laws and put migrants’ rights at risk.
The November 2023 agreement between Italy and Albania— worth nearly 800 million euros over five years — allows up to 3,000 migrants the Italian coast guard intercepted in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or repatriation.
Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The first three groups of 73 migrants transferred there in October, November, and January spent only a few hours in Albania.
They were returned to Italy after Italian magistrates refused to validate their detention in a non-EU country.
So far this year, 11,438 migrants landed on Italian shores, less than the 16,090 who arrived in the same period last year.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, most arrived from Bangladesh, followed by Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Irregular border crossings were 31 percent lower across the EU, according to figures released by the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex.
