South Korea’s Constitutional Court decide on Friday whether to officially dismiss or reinstate President Yoon Suk Yeol, after he was impeached at the end of last year.
The court has been deliberating on the case since December 2024, after Mr Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly - a body aligned the liberal opposition - after he briefly imposed martial law.
The decision sparked widespread political backlash, and the ruling in the Constitutional Court is set to create further division, no matter which way it goes.
Millions of people have flocked to protests both in support and against Mr Yoon, with South Korean police forces planning to mobilise all available resources on Friday.
The ruling is expected to be made at 11am on April 4, with TV stations broadcasting the decision live.
Here’s a closer look at the embattled leader and the events that led to his impeachment.
South Korea's parliament voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 14, after his short-lived declaration of martial law on December 3.
Mr Yoon's martial law imposition, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, lasted only six hours, but has caused massive political tumult, halted diplomatic activities and rattled financial markets.
He was forced to lift his decree after parliament unanimously voted to overturn it.
After declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament to try to impede its vote on the decree before they withdrew after the parliament rejected it. No major violence occurred.
The National Assembly passed the motion on December 14 with a 204-85 vote following a failed attempt to impeach him the week prior.
The vote suspended Mr Yoon's presidential powers and duties once copies of the impeachment document were delivered to him and to the Constitutional Court.
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The court then had up to 180 days to decide whether to remove Mr Yoon from office or reinstate his powers, which would run out on June 10, 2025.
If he is dismissed in the ruling on April 4, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
How have people in South Korea reacted?
Some legislators from the People Power Party, who previously opposed impeachment, changed their stance and voted in favour during the second vote.
In the fortnight after his impeachment, tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets of the capital, Seoul, calling for Mr Yoon's removal and arrest.
Opposition parties and many experts accuse Yoon of rebellion, citing a law clause that categorises as rebellion the staging of a riot against established state authorities to undermine the constitution.
They also say that by law a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and has no rights to suspend parliament's operations even under martial law.
The impeachment motion alleged that Mr Yoon "committed rebellion that hurts peace on the Republic of Korea by staging a series of riots".
It said Mr Yoon's mobilization of military and police forces threatened the National Assembly and the public and that his martial law decree was aimed at disturbing the Constitution.
In a fiery speech in December, Mr Yoon rejected the rebellion charges, calling his martial law order an act of governance.
The conservative said he aimed to issue a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party - calling it "a monster" - and "anti-state forces" that he argued has flexed its legislative muscle to impeach top officials and undermined the government's budget bill for next year.
"I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralysing the country's government and disrupting the nation's constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea," Mr Yoon said.
Indeed, as more time goes on from the impeachment, more supporters have flocked to Mr Yoon’s side, with pro-Yoon rallies rising amid conservative views that the campaign against the president is excessive. Rallies on both sides have largely been peaceful.
On the part of the opposition, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung called Mr Yoon's speech a "mad declaration of war" against his own people.