Constitutional Court adjourns impeachment hearing as President Yoon Suk Yeol fails to appear

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday began the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol over the failure of his martial law proposal, but quickly adjourned the first hearing after the suspended leader failed to appear.

Yoon’s December 3 takeover plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, after he ordered soldiers to storm Parliament in a failed attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting against his suspension of civil rule.

He was indicted shortly afterward and suspended from office, but has since holed up in his residence, refusing summons from investigators investigating him on charges of insurrection and using his presidential security team to resist his arrest.

The first of five hearings in the trial began at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT) but lasted only a few minutes in Yoon’s absence, the court spokesperson told AFP.

Although his absence – which his team blamed on alleged security concerns – forced a postponement of the proceedings, the hearings will continue without Yoon, with the next one set for Thursday.

Additional hearings are already scheduled for January 21, January 23 and February 4.

The court’s eight judges will decide mainly two questions: whether Yoon’s declaration of martial law was unconstitutional and whether it was illegal – either could provide grounds for upholding his impeachment.

Six of the eight judges must vote in favor of Yoon’s impeachment for him to be removed from office.

The National Assembly’s legal team told reporters outside the court before the trial began Tuesday that there were “compelling reasons for the immediate dismissal” of Yoon.

The court has until 180 days from Dec. 14, when it received the case, to issue its decision.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye failed to appear during their impeachment trials in 2004 and 2016-2017, respectively.

Yoon’s lawyers argued that the court should use the full 180 days – specifically to examine what “led to the declaration of martial law.”

The attempt to put South Korea under military rule for the first time in more than four decades lasted just six hours.

“This indictment case only focuses on the martial law situation,” lawyer Kim Nam-ju told AFP.

“As most of those involved have already been charged and the facts are somewhat established, it does not appear to take much time.”

Lawmakers also removed Yoon’s replacement last month, adding to the country’s political instability, and the current interim president appears unwilling to wade into the standoff, instead urging all parties to negotiate a solution .

Attempted arrest

As part of a parallel criminal investigation, a joint team of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) – which is investigating Yoon for insurrection – and the police are preparing a new attempt to arrest the president.

A previous attempt failed after Yoon’s presidential guard blocked access to investigators while rival camps of protesters gathered outside his home.

Yoon’s chief of staff, Chung Jin-suk, said his office was “ready to consider all options for investigations or visits” to the sitting leader “in a third location.”

If the new arrest warrant is successfully executed, Yoon will become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.

If ultimately convicted in this case, Yoon could face prison or the death penalty.

An IOC official told reporters they were “continuing preparations” for the second arrest attempt.

The police would also prepare 1,000 investigators for this new attempt.

Yoon’s guards have reinforced his Seoul compound with barbed wire installations and bus barricades, while a military unit patrols outside.

But the Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the military unit would “focus solely on its primary mission of perimeter security near the official (presidential) residence and would not be mobilized during the execution of the mandate.”

Experts say the success of the arrest attempt largely depends on the success of investigators and South Korean society as a whole.

“If (the IOC) does not execute a second arrest warrant, it could face a significant crisis regarding its future,” said Lee Jae-mook, a political science professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

“If this situation persists, we could see an increase in social unrest. »