SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — 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.

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.

An election will be held within two months to repalce 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.

One of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun, called the ruling “completely incomprehensible” and a “pure political decision,” but the former president did not immediately issue a statement. Yoon’s ruling People Power Party said it would accept the decision.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s acting leader, in a televised speech vowed to ensure “there are no gaps in national security and diplomacy” and maintain public safety and order. Han was appointed prime minister by Yoon and became acting leader when Yoon’s powers were suspended by impeachment.

“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 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.

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.”

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.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency says impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained hours after the hundreds of the agency’s investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him.

A series of black SUVs, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the presidential compound with police escorts.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hundreds of law enforcement officers entered the residential compound of South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol early Wednesday in their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.

Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials were negotiating with the president’s attorneys, and Yoon had not been apprehended as of midmorning.

A lawyer on Yoon’s legal team said the president agreed to be investigated at the anti-corruption agency on Wednesday and was also preparing a public statement. He said Yoon was willing to travel to the agency in the nearby city of Gwacheon once its investigators and police officers retreat from his residence and security details are in place. But it was unclear whether the agency would accept the offer for voluntary questioning instead of bringing him to custody.

The officers seemingly encountered no meaningful resistance from presidential security forces as they approached Yoon’s residence and there were no immediate reports of clashes.

More than a thousand anti-corruption investigators and police officers could be deployed in the operation to apprehend Yoon, who has been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in the capital, Seoul, for weeks while vowing to “fight to the end” against the efforts to oust him.

Yoon has justified his declaration of martial law Dec. 3 as a legitimate act of governance against an “anti-state” opposition employing its legislative majority to thwart his agenda.

Yoon’s lawyers were trying to persuade investigators not to execute the detention warrant, saying the president would voluntarily appear for questioning, but the agency told reporters they weren’t immediately considering that option.

The anti-corruption agency is leading a joint investigation with police and the military over whether Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion and sought to bring him into custody after he ignored several summons for questioning. They have pledged more forceful measures to detain him after the presidential security service blocked their initial efforts on Jan. 3.

Following an hourslong standoff at the compound’s gate, anti-corruption investigators and police officers were seen moving up the hilly compound. Police officers were earlier seen using ladders to climb over rows of buses placed by the presidential security service near the compound’s entrance.

Anti-corruption investigators and police later arrived in front of a metal gate with a gold presidential mark that’s near Yoon’s residential building. Some officers were seen entering a security door on the side of the metal gate, joined by one of Yoon’s lawyers and his chief of staff. The presidential security service later removed a bus and other vehicles that had been parked tightly inside the gate as a barricade.

Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer for Yoon, said attorneys at the residence were negotiating with the anti-corruption agency over the possibility the president could voluntarily appear for questioning.

It was unclear whether law enforcement would accept the offer from Yoon’s lawyers, as the president previously evaded multiple requests to appear for questioning before the agency sought court warrants for his detention.

Despite a court warrant for Yoon’s detention, the presidential security service has insisted it’s obligated to protect the impeached president and has fortified the compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.

If investigators manage to detain Yoon Suk Yeol, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, he will be released after 48 hours.

As tensions escalated, South Korea’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, issued a statement early Wednesday urging law enforcement and the presidential security service to ensure there are no “physical clashes.”

The liberal opposition Democratic Party, which drove a legislative campaign that led to Yoon’s impeachment on Dec. 14, issued a statement calling for the presidential security service to stand down and cooperate with Yoon’s detention. Lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party held a rally near the presidential residence, decrying the efforts to detain him as unlawful.

The National Police Agency has convened multiple meetings of field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detainment efforts, and the size of those forces fueled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be deployed in a possible multiday operation. The agency and police have openly warned that presidential bodyguards obstructing the execution of the warrant could be arrested.

Yoon’s lawyers said the presidential security service will continue to provide security for Yoon and claimed that the detainment warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court was invalid. They cited a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Yoon. The court warrant for Yoon’s detainment is valid through Jan. 21.

Yoon’s supporters and critics have held competing protests near the residence — one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment — while thousands of police officers in yellow jackets closely monitored the tense situation.

Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on Dec. 3. It lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.

Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him.

The Constitutional Court held its first formal hearing in the case on Tuesday, but the session lasted less than five minutes because Yoon refused to attend. The next hearing is set for Thursday, and the court will then proceed with the trial whether or not Yoon is there.