Yoon Suk Yeol, the impeached president of South Korea, was in court again on Tuesday for hearings that will determine his removal from office. He has been detained and given a suspended salary.
When Yoon, a former prosecutor, suspended civilian rule and sent soldiers to parliament on December 3, he declared martial law in democratic South Korea.
His unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law only lasted for about six hours as the opposition-led parliament defied armed forces and later rebuffed him for it.
Yoon became the first sitting South Korean head of state to be detained in a dawn raid in mid-January on insurrection charges as part of a separate criminal investigation.
He is currently being held in detention, but he has regularly attended constitutional court hearings to hear whether or not his impeachment is upheld.
If the court upholds the impeachment, an election must be held within 60 days to elect a new president.
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A convoy of black SUVs arrived at the court Tuesday, carrying Yoon to attend a hearing scheduled to begin at 2: 00 pm (0500 GMT).
In opposition MPs’ refutation, Yoon has previously denied instructing top military commanders to “drag out” lawmakers from parliament to stop them from rejecting his decree.
He has argued that he did not believe the short-lived martial law was a “failed martial law”, but rather one that “ended a bit sooner” than he expected.
During Tuesday’s hearing, two former military commanders and an ex-spy agency official are set to testify as witnesses.
Former National Intelligence Service deputy director Hong Jang-won testified before lawmakers that Yoon had been told to arrest politicians, which is in contrast to Yoon’s denial of such a statement.
Yoon, 64, was indicted in January, with prosecutors accusing him of being a “ringleader of the insurrection”.
On those charges, he is facing a separate criminal trial. Presidential immunity does not apply to insurrection.
If convicted, he faces jail time or the death penalty.
Source: Channels TV
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