In the past several months, South Korea has been facing serious political turmoil; the former president was brought down by a corruption scandal, involving her informal adviser and longtime friend, Choi Soon-Sil. Choi is on trial for fraud and abuse of power. Park helped Choi raise monetary donations from companies for foundations she had set up. This was seen as an abuse of power. On March 10, 2017, Justice Lee Jung-Mi said, “We announce the decision as the unanimous opinion of all judges. We dismiss the defendant, President Park.” The Constitutional Court of South Korea impeached President Park Geun-Hye.

After the verdict was announced, around 100 supporters of Park Geun Hye attempted to surpass police lines to get to the court; several of them fell and were wounded. A protester told CNN, “We lost our liberty. We lost our Korea.”

On the other hand, people that were against Park cried tears of joy and celebrated upon hearing about the President’s dismissal.

Hwang Kyo-Ahn, South Korea’s Prime Minister, became the acting President when Park was impeached. He expressed concern over the possibility that North Korea could exploit the political uncertainty.

The US swiftly issued a statement to reassure the fact that the relationship between the two countries would remain the same. The State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, stated, “We will continue to work with Prime Minister Hwang for the remainder of his tenure as acting President, and we look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president.”

Within 60 days a presidential election will be held, and there will be a replacement for Park Geun-Hye.