SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court is in session Friday to rule on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, four months after the conservative leader threw the country into turmoil with an ill-fated declaration of martial law. It will either remove him from office or restore his powers.

Mr Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly after his short-lived attempt to impose martial law in early December. The court’s decision to uphold the impeachment marks a victory for South Korea’s democratic institutions and ends a leadership vacuum atop its government. A presidential election will be held within 60 days.

The BBC has spoken to people close to the president to understand what drove him to trigger an authoritarian takeover.

South Korea's Constitutional Court will rule on Friday whether to remove or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration that sparked a crisis in a country seen as a democratic success story.

Here’s a look at the country’s history of troubled presidencies. Syngman Rhee, an American-educated Christian leader and independence activist, became South Korea’s first president in 1948 with U.S. support,

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Friday removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his stunning declaration of martial law in a case that ignited the worst political crisis in decades and rattled markets.

South Korea's constitutional court has unanimously voted to uphold the impeachment of president Yoon Suk Yeol.

The South Korean Constitutional Court’s decision to formally unseat President Yoon Suk Yeol is another test for the country’s democracy after the conservative-liberal divide deepened over his imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil by declaring martial law and sending troops to parliament in an ill-fated effort to break through legislative gridlock.