Welcome back to World Brief, where we’ll look at South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s removal from power, the global economic impact of US reciprocal tariffs, and an expanded Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Yoon Removed as South Korean President South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on Friday to uphold the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol for his decision last December to invoke a short-lived martial law order, triggering a political crisis. Yoon is guilty of “violating the constitutional order” and “betraying the people’s trust,” said Moon Hyung-bae, the acting president of the Constitutional Court. “He violated his duty to unite the society as the president of all the people, beyond just his own supporters.” “I am regretful and sorry that I could not live up to your expectations,” Yoon said in response to the ruling, with his People Power Party adding that it “seriously and humbly accepts” the decision. Yoon is the country’s second conservative president in a row to be ousted by impeachment, after then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017.

On Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon ordered South Korean troops to seize the National Assembly, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces” that sought to paralyze the government by repeatedly trying to oust his top officials. It was the first time that a South Korean leader had used the military as a political tool since the country democratized in 1987.

The revolt was blocked within six hours, and on Dec. 14, the National Assembly impeached Yoon and suspended his presidential powers. Despite efforts to evade arrest, Yoon was detained a month later as part of a criminal investigation into whether he led an attempted insurrection. Yoon faces a separate criminal trial, to begin on April 14, on insurrection charges. Friday’s ruling ends a monthslong constitutional crisis that exposed deep fissures in South Korean politics, and it clears the way for the country to move toward electing a new president. Under its constitution, South Korea must choose a successor within 60 days.

If a presidential election were held in South Korea today, polls find that the likely winner would be Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party and its expected presidential nominee. “Today marks the beginning of a true South Korea,” Lee said on Friday in response to the Constitutional Court’s decision. No strong front-runner has emerged from Yoon’s People Power Party, as his removal from office has only increased the chance that progressive forces regain power. Until new elections can be held, acting President Han Duck-soo, whose own impeachment was overturned last week, must govern South Korea. Meanwhile, the country faces several foreign-policy challenges—from the United States’ trade war to growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.