South Korea Begins Impeachment Trial Against Suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol
Seoul, South Korea: South Korea’s constitutional court held its first hearing to decide if suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol should be removed from office after his shocking martial law attempt last month. The first hearing ended within four minutes because of Yoon’s absence. The President’s lawyers had earlier said he would not attend for his own safety, as there is a warrant out for his arrest on separate charges of insurrection.
Yoon was suspended from practicing his role as the President in last December after members of his own party voted with the opposition to impeach him. However, he will only be formally removed from office if at least six of the eight-member bench votes to uphold the impeachment.
According to South Korean law, the court must set a new date for a hearing before they can proceed without his participation. The court scheduled next hearing to be on 16th January.
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Challenging the court’s “unilateral decision” on trial dates, Yoon’s lawyers have indicated that he will show up for a hearing at an “appropriate time”. The court also rejected the lawyers’ request for one of the eight justices to be recused from the proceedings.
The investigators are also separately preparing for another attempt to arrest Yoon for alleged insurrection, after an attempt on earlier this month, which ended following an hours-long standoff with his security team.
Yoon is Seoul’s first sitting president to face arrest. The second bid to take him into custody could happen as early as this week, according to local media. The President has not commented publicly since parliament voted to impeach him on December 14 and has been speaking primarily through his lawyers.
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On December 3rd, Yoon declared martial law. The decree, however, only prevailed for mere six hours as lawmakers rushed into vote against it. The move, though short, threw South Korea into political turmoil. Yoon tried to justify the attempt by saying he was protecting the country from “anti-state” forces, but it soon became clear it was spurred by his own political troubles.
Following weeks were filled with unprecedented few moves which saw the opposition-dominated parliament vote to impeach Yoon and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who succeeded him as acting president. The crisis has hit the country’s economy, with the won weakening and global credit rating agencies warning of weakening consumer and business sentiment.
