Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court on Tuesday for a critical hearing that will determine whether he will be officially removed from office.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, was arrested and suspended from duty after declaring martial law on December 3, a move that threw South Korea into political turmoil. His decree, which temporarily suspended civilian rule and deployed soldiers to parliament, lasted only six hours before lawmakers overruled it. The opposition-led parliament swiftly impeached him, citing abuse of power.
In a separate criminal investigation, Yoon was arrested in mid-January on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to be detained. He remains in custody while attending impeachment hearings at the Constitutional Court, which will decide his fate. If the court upholds his impeachment, a new election must be held within 60 days.
A convoy of black SUVs transported Yoon to the court on Tuesday for a hearing set to begin at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT). At previous sessions, he denied ordering military commanders to forcibly remove lawmakers from parliament to prevent them from blocking his decree, a claim refuted by opposition legislators.
Yoon has argued that his declaration of martial law was not a “failed” attempt but one that “ended sooner” than he anticipated.
During the latest hearing, former military commanders and an ex-intelligence official were set to testify. Hong Jang-won, a former deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, previously claimed that he was ordered to arrest politicians—a statement that contradicts Yoon’s denials.
Yoon, 64, was indicted in January, with prosecutors branding him the “ringleader of the insurrection.” He now faces separate criminal proceedings, with potential penalties ranging from imprisonment to the death sentence, as insurrection is not covered by presidential immunity.
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