South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is ousted. What comes next?

We bring you early reactions from the South Korean press after President Yoon Suk Yeol was officially removed from office. All eight constitutional judges voted to uphold the impeachment ruling against Yoon in a verdict handed down this Friday. The Korea Herald offers us an autopsy of his career. It notes that he was once touted as an anti-corruption investigator, but no one thought he would meet the same fate as ex-president Park Geun-hye, whom he helped put behind bars. The conservative leader was impeached by parliament last December after an ill-fated move to impose martial law, albeit for only six hours. It nonetheless plunged South Korea into a political and financial crisis: soldiers were deployed to government sites, clashes with citizens ensued and the unrest evoked painful memories of military rule. The Korea Times focuses on the jubilation of South Koreans, millions of whom are celebrating the president's ouster. The paper also looks at what's to come. Yoon will leave office with no possibility of appealing. He'll lose special privileges like a presidential pension or a national burial. More importantly, he'll face multiple criminal investigations, including for treason. Probes into scandals could also begin. He will face legal accountability, and possibly prison time if found guilty. Fresh elections will be held in two months. 

In the editorial pages, a lot of reactions came in before the verdict but are still noteworthy. Hanyoreh, a liberal paper, urged the court to remove Yoon from office. It’s the only way to restore the nation's trust and fulfill its role as the last bulwark of the constitution, the paper added. JoongAng Daily, a conservative paper of reference, focused more on its call for calm and unity after the court’s ruling. It reminds readers that Korean democracy was built on the sacrifices of the citizens and urged citizens to "end this turmoil" by accepting the court's ruling.

Next, we look at reactions after Hungary's announced withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced the decision amid an official visit by Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu to Hungary, which is the first EU country to leave the ICC. The German-language Hungarian website Budapester Zeitung goes with the headline "Danke Viktor", echoing comments by Netanyahu thanking Orban for his decision. The daily reminds us that Orban invited Netanyahu last November after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Orban reiterated his criticism of the court, saying it has not been impartial for years and functions as a political court. The Jewish News Syndicate, a conservative news syndicate of Israeli and Jewish news, hails Orban for "systematically standing up against EU policies selected by the elite in Brussels and West European capitals". It adds that those who stand up against Islamic radicalism and progressive globalist order can thank Netanyahu, Donald Trump and Viktor Orban. For one cartoonist though, Berend Vonk, the red carpet rolled out for Netanyahu in Hungary is merely the blood that the men have shed through their ruthless politics.

In other news: the New York Post reports that India has arrested an "idiotic" US tourist for visiting a remote tribe in the Andaman Islands. The 24-year-old influencer travelled for nine hours in a rubber dinghy to reach the North Sentinel islands. He tried to get the tribe's attention by blowing a whistle and left soda and a coconut as an offering, before being arrested. As the Post reports, the man fashions himself as a daredevil traveller, having travelled to Afghanistan and posed with the Taliban. The hunter-gatherer tribe on the Sentinel Islands are extremely isolated and therefore have no immunity from modern diseases. The last person to visit them, a Christian missionary who tried to convert them, was promptly killed. So you could say this tourist got lucky!

Finally, Britain's King Charles III has made his return to public duties after a brief period of hospitalisation related to his cancer treatment. The king returned to public service with a heartwarming video of him with the London Vegetable Orchestra. They are the UK's only musical ensemble to play instruments made of local vegetables. Take a look at this video of King Charles playing the most royal of vegetables: the carrot, filmed by the royal family's cameraman!