Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in two Seoul courtrooms Thursday, first to hear criminal insurrection charges and then to face a Constitutional Court impeachment trial, both in connection with his short-lived, Dec. 3 imposition of martial law.
Yoon was taken by motorcade from the Seoul Detention Center, where he is being held, to the Central District Court for the preliminary hearing on the insurrection charges prosecutors filed last month.
In that hearing, Yoon’s lawyers argued that his declaration of martial law was not intended to paralyze the state, but to “alert the public to the national crisis caused by the legislative dictatorship of the dominant opposition party, which had crippled the administration."
The lawyers also asked for Yoon’s release from detention, although it was unclear when the court would rule on that request.
Yoon next traveled to the Constitutional Court for the tenth and final scheduled hearing in the trial over validity of his impeachment for declaring martial law.
In Yoon’s first appearance at that trial, the court heard testimony from Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was also impeached by National Assembly lawmakers for his role in the early December declaration. Yoon briefly left the courtroom during Han’s testimony, with Yoon’s lawyers explaining they felt it was inappropriate for the two to be seen together.
Han told the court that while he shared Yoon’s views on the liberal opposition, he and the rest of the cabinet disagreed with the president’s declaration of martial law and even tried to dissuade him. To his knowledge, the prime minister added, none of the cabinet members supported the action.
The Constitutional Court is reviewing parliament’s Dec. 14 vote to impeach Yoon and will decide whether to permanently remove him from office or reinstate him.
The court is considering if Yoon violated the constitution while Yoon and his lawyers have argued that he never intended to fully impose martial law but had only meant the measures as a warning to break a political deadlock.
If Yoon is removed, a new presidential election must be held within 60 days. The court is expected to deliver its ruling in early or mid-March.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
