Nam Hyun-joo, an employee at a theological school, told the BBC that she believed the Chinese Communist Party was "the main actor behind the election fraud". Standing alone outside the Constitutional Court in the biting January cold, she held a protest sign denouncing the judiciary.

Mr Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly after his short-lived attempt to impose martial law in early December. The court’s decision to uphold the impeachment marks a victory for South Korea’s democratic institutions and ends a leadership vacuum atop its government. A presidential election will be held within 60 days.