South Korea's president thrown out of office

South Korea's Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled to remove president Park Geun-hye from office, ending a 92-day leadership crisis that has plunged the country into chaos and brought hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets.

In a televised ruling, acting chief justice Lee Jung-mi said Park's "violation of the country's constitution and law were grave enough to warrant her permanent ouster".

He added: "The Constitutional Court on 10 March 2017 rules to uphold the parliamentary impeachment of President Park Geun-hye."

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Park has become the nation's first impeached president. Her removal from office also opens up the possibility of criminal charges being laid, says ABC News.

She is accused of improper connections to South Korea's biggest company, Samsung, whose chief, Lee Jae-yong, has been detained on charges of bribing Park's close confidante Choi Soon-sil.

An independent investigator claims the former president was an accomplice to Choi in attempting to extract 43bn won (£30.9m) from the technology giant, saying the two friends "shared economic interests", the Korea Herald reports.

The Yonhap News Agency reports that the removal of Park will trigger an emergency presidential election. Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in, who came second in the 2012 election, has a comfortable lead in the polls.

A US State Department spokesman said Washington will continue to be a "steadfast ally" of the country and will "look forward to a productive relationship with whomever the people of South Korea elect to be their next president".