Will Park Geun-hye’s exit reshape South Korea’s relationship with China and North Korea?
Seoul’s relationship with Beijing has become strained in recent months over the deployment of THAAD anti-missile system and experts suggest new administration may be unlikely to reverse course
South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed President Park Geun-hye from office on Friday over an influence-peddling scandal involving one of her close friends and the country’s powerful chaebol conglomerates at a time of rising tensions with North Korea and China.
The ruling triggered protests by hundreds of her supporters, two of whom died after clashes with police outside the court.
Park became South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office, capping months of paralysis and turmoil over a corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung conglomerate in jail. A snap presidential election will be held within 60 days.
Watch: Park Geun-hye removed from office
Analysts immediately began to weigh the implications for South Korea’s relationship with China, strained in recent months by Park’s decision to deploy the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile-defence system as a precaution against the threat posed by North Korea. Beijing has vigorously protested the move.