South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has been relieved of her duties by the country's top court, as it upheld her impeachment by parliament over a wide-ranging corruption scandal.
The unanimous decision brought months of political turmoil to a climax and triggers a new presidential election, to be held within 60 days.
Ms Park's actions had "seriously impaired the spirit of … democracy and the rule of law," said constitutional court chief justice Lee Jung-Mi. "President Park Geun-Hye… has been dismissed".
It also means that the country's first female president becomes its first leader to be removed by impeachment.
She is obliged to leave the presidential Blue House and loses her executive immunity from prosecution.
Rival groups of supporters and opponents watched as the verdict was read out live on television - a process that took little more than 20 minutes.
Ms Park was found to have broken the law by allowing her friend Choi Soon-Sil to meddle in state affairs, and breached rules on public servants' activities.
"The president has to use her power based on the constitution and the laws and have the details of her work shown transparently so that people can evaluate her works," Ms Lee said.
"But Park concealed completely Ms Choi's meddling in state affairs and denied it whenever suspicions over the act emerged and even criticised those who raised the suspicions."
Two people have reportedly died during clashes between the rival groups of supporters in the wake of the verdict, the South Korean Yonhap news agency has reported.
