President Park Geun-hye

With South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholding the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, removing her from office and paving the way for the political opposition to take power. The upheaval brings new uncertainty about the future of the nation’s maritime and defense policies.

“The president’s violations of the Constitution and the law amount to a betrayal of the people’s trust and are grave actions that cannot be tolerated from the perspective of defending the Constitution,” said acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi in announcing the verdict.

Park was impeached on December 9 following revelations of a corrupt “donations” scheme involving a close friend and advisor, Choi Soon-sil. Choi was accused of using her proximity to the president to extort money from Korea’s largest companies, including Samsung, in the form of charitable gifts to foundations that she controlled. In addition, Choi allegedly wielded outsize influence within Park’s government, even though she held no official position.

Park had no comment on the ruling herself, but her political party took responsibility for her administration’s failings. “We failed to fulfill our duty as the ruling party, and failed to protect the dignity and pride of South Korea,” said Liberty Korea Party acting leader In Myung-jin. Now that she is no longer president, she will likely face questioning from prosecutors and may be subject to criminal charges. Choi has already been indicted for her role in the scandal.

Acting president and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has warned that North Korea could use the situation as an opportunity to sow confusion, and he called for the military to be ready to respond to any provocation. American forces in Korea will be reinforced with the arrival of the carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is due to call at Busan on March 15 to participate in a large-scale military exercise.

Park’s replacement will be chosen in a special election, which is tentatively scheduled for May 9. Democratic Party leader Moon Jae-in is well ahead in public opinion polls and is favored to win the contest. Whoever takes up the presidency, they will have to contend with continued weakness in the nation’s shipbuilding and shipping industries; Park initiated a multi-billion dollar subsidy program to support Korean maritime firms, but troubled companies like Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering are likely to drag on the economy for some time.