South Korea’s ousted president belongs to a long line of troubled leaders

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Three years after becoming president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol was formally removed from office on Friday as the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment over an ill-fated December decision to impose martial law. Yoon’s self-inflicted downfall continues a trend of troubled presidencies.

Yoon’s ouster comes eight years after the same court dismissed another conservative president, Park Geun-hye over an explosive scandal involving bribery, extortion, leaking state secrets and abuse of power. Several former presidents, their family members, or top aides have been embroiled in corruption scandals near the end of their terms or after leaving office. There have been coups, an assassination and a suicide.

Here’s a look at the country’s history of troubled presidencies.

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Syngman Rhee (1948-1960)

Syngman Rhee, an American-educated Christian leader and independence activist, became South Korea’s first president in 1948 with U.S. support, three years after the Korean Peninsula was liberated from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II. His government grew increasingly authoritarian, especially after the 1950-53 Korean War, and critics accused him of corruption and nepotism as he sought to extend his grip on power. He secured a fourth presidential term in 1960 amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging, triggering nationwide protests that forced him to flee to Hawaii, where he died in 1965.

Park Chung-hee (1961-1979)

Park Chung-hee, an army general, seized power in a 1961 coup, toppling the government that had replaced Rhee. Park is credited with industrial policies that fueled the country’s rapid economic growth in the 1960-70s, but critics remember him as a ruthless dictator who jailed, tortured, and executed dissidents. Park, also the father of future President Park Geun-hye, was assassinated by his own spy chief during a late-night drinking session in 1979.

Chun Doo-hwan (1980-1988)

Park was replaced by an interim government, but within months another army general and his military allies seized power in a coup in December 1979, deploying tanks and troops into Seoul. President Chun Doo-hwan ruled as a military dictator but massive pro-democracy protests forced his government to accept a constitutional revision allowing direct presidential elections in 1987. After leaving office, Chun spent two years in exile at a remote Buddhist temple amid public demands for accountability for corruption and human rights abuses, and in 1995 he was arrested for crimes including the coup that brought him to power and received a death sentence that was later commuted to life imprisoned before he was pardoned. Chun died in 2021.

Roh Tae-woo (1988-1993)

Roh Tae-woo, a close associate of Chun, won the country’s first democratic, direct presidential election in decades in 1987, largely due to a split opposition vote among liberal candidates. Two years after Roh left office, both he and Chun were arrested in late 1995 on charges of accepting bribes from businessmen during their presidencies. They were also indicted for mutiny and treason over the 1979 coup that put Chun in power and the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Gwangju in 1980, which killed hundreds. In 1996, Chun was initially sentenced to death, while Roh received 22½ years in prison. In April 1997, South Korea’s Supreme Court reduced Chun’s sentence to life imprisonment and Roh’s to 12 years, before both were pardoned later that year. Roh died in 2021.

Kim Young-sam (1993-1998)

Kim Young-sam, a longtime opposition leader who fought for democratization, initially enjoyed strong public support for ambitious anti-corruption reforms and the arrests of Chun and Roh. But Kim’s popularity nosedived as the late-1990s Asian financial crisis wreaked havoc on South Korea’s economy, toppling some of the country’s debt-ridden conglomerates and forcing the government to accept a $58 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. He pardoned Chun and Roh in December 1997, accepting a proposal from president-elect Kim Dae-jung, as a gesture for national unity. Kim Young-sam left office amid a corruption scandal that saw his son arrested and jailed. He died in 2015.

Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003)

Another longtime opposition leader and democracy activist, Kim Dae-jung rose to the presidency in 1998. In 2000, he held an unprecedented summit with then-North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, ushering in an era of rapprochement between the war-divided rivals. That same year, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. However, his presidency was also marred by corruption scandals involving his aides and sons. He was also accused of arranging for the Hyundai business group to pay North Korea more than $400 million ahead of the summit. Kim died in 2009.

Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008)

Roh Moo-hyun, a self-taught lawyer who rose to political prominence as a reformist, won the 2002 election as a liberal candidate with vows to fight corruption. However, his direct and outspoken style contributed to constant clashes with conservatives who held the legislative majority during the early part of his presidency. In 2004, lawmakers impeached Roh over election law violations and other allegations, but the Constitutional Court reinstated him two months later, concluding that the accusations were not serious enough to justify his removal. Roh died by suicide in 2009, a year after his term ended, amid allegations that some of his family members took bribes during his presidency. His older brother received a prison term for influence-peddling in 2009 and was later pardoned.

Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013)

Elected in 2008 on a promise to boost the economy, ex-Hyundai CEO Lee Myung-bak saw his popularity decline quickly due to unmet economic goals and media policies criticized as attacks on free speech, and left office with rock-bottom approval ratings amid corruption scandals involving himself, his family and key government officials. In 2018, Lee was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for a range of crimes before and during his presidency, including accepting millions of dollars in bribes from major corporations, embezzling funds from his own company, and taking bribes from his ex-spy chief in exchange for favors. He was released on bail months later but was imprisoned again in 2020 after the Supreme Court upheld a 17-year sentence from an appellate court. Lee was pardoned by Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2022.

Park Geun-hye (2013-2017)

Park Geun-hye was elected as the country’s first female president in 2012, defeating her liberal rival Moon Jae-in by a million votes after securing support from conservative voters who see her father as an industrial hero who lifted the country from postwar poverty. But her popularity declined following a 2014 ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives, while an uncompromising leadership style led to impasses with the liberal opposition. Her presidency collapsed after allegations emerged that she had colluded with a friend to extort and accept millions of dollars in bribes from the country’s biggest business groups and allowed her friend to manipulate state affairs. Park was formally ousted from office and arrested in March 2017. She called her trial political revenge and refused to attend hearings before being convicted and sentenced. Park served less than a quarter of her 22-year sentence before Moon, who won a presidential by-election following her ouster, pardoned her in December 2021 in what he called an effort to promote political unity.

Yoon Suk Yeol (2022-2025)

Yoon, a staunch conservative and longtime prosecutor, went from political novice to president in 2022, ending five years of liberal rule characterized by failed efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis and ongoing economic trouble. He clashed continuously with the liberal opposition, which retained its majority in the National Assembly and hindered his agenda. Aiming to quash a legislature he portrayed as a “den of criminals,” Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024 and sent hundreds of troops to the legislature and election offices. Despite troop blockades, lawmakers gathered a quorum and unanimously voted to lift martial law just hours later. The assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, suspending his powers as prosecutors opened criminal investigations into the events. Yoon and his allies denied that he intended to shut down the legislature or arrest opponents, but the eight-member Constitutional Court unanimously rejected their arguments, describing his actions as unconstitutional and ordering his removal. The former president still faces a criminal trial for rebellion, and could be charged with additional crimes now that he has been stripped of presidential immunity.