The Constitutional Court on Tuesday began reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. A first hearing which lasted only a few minutes. The procedure will either permanently dismiss him for his failed attempt to impose martial law or restore him to power.
More than a month after this coup which plunged South Korea into a serious political crisis, a long and crucial process is beginning. The court has until mid-June to confirm or deny the motion adopted on December 14 by the National Assembly, which suspended Mr. Yoon.
The first hearing started at 2:00 p.m. local time (6:00 a.m. Swiss time), lasting only a few minutes, Yoon Suk Yeol not having appeared, a spokesperson for the court told AFP.
The former prosecutor’s lawyers had announced his intention to come and explain himself, but not on Tuesday, citing “concerns about security and potential incidents.”
Four more sessions are planned at this stage: January 16, 21 and 23, as well as February 4.
-Barricaded for weeks in his residence and threatened with arrest, Yoon Suk Yeol, 64, risks his mandate for having unsuccessfully tried to impose martial law on December 3, a shock measure that he had justified by his desire to protect the country from “North Korean communist forces” and “eliminate elements hostile to the state”.
Within a Parliament surrounded by soldiers, a sufficient number of deputies quickly thwarted his plans by voting for a text demanding the lifting of this state of exception. Put under pressure by elected officials, thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators and constrained by the Constitution, Mr. Yoon had to comply.
If at least six of the court’s justices — out of eight — uphold the impeachment, it will trigger a new presidential election within 60 days in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is in its second interim president following the events of early December. Otherwise, Mr. Yoon, although very unpopular, will be reinstated in office.
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