In a statement, Yoon's legal team expressed "deep regret" over the Supreme Court's ruling, saying the justices concluded a significant case without sufficient review.
The court sentenced Han for playing a key role in the rebellion by trying to give procedural legitimacy to the martial law decree by getting it passed through a Cabinet Council meeting.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
Cho, who was impeached by lawmakers and arrested a week after Yoon’s power grab, is the first commissioner general of the National Police Agency to be removed by the Constitutional Court.
Despite the lack of a serious response from North Korea, Cho said that Yoon declared martial law by branding the liberal-controlled legislature as “anti-state forces” that must be urgently removed.
In a nationally televised verdict, South Korea's Constitutional Court unanimously upheld Yoon's impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws.
