Court removes South Korea president from office
SEOUL, March 10, 2017
South Korea's Constitutional Court today removed President Park Geun-hye from office over a graft scandal involving the country's conglomerates, a Reuters report said.
The decision sparked protests from her supporters and two people were killed in clashes with police, it said.
Park becomes South Korea's first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil. Her ouster comes amid rising tension with North Korea and China, and the corruption scandal has also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail.
A presidential election will be held within 60 days.
The court's acting chief judge, Lee Jung-mi, said Park had violated the constitution and law "throughout her term", and despite the objections of parliament and the press, she had concealed the truth and cracked down on critics, the report said.
Park denied any wrongdoing.