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Highly anticipated impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk-yeol begins in South Korea

An investigation for “rebellion”, punishable by death

In 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, Yoon Suk-yeol had to comply.

Read more: The political crisis in South Korea, between polarization and outdated institutions

In addition to the impeachment procedure, the conservative leader is now the target of several investigations, including one for “rebellion”, a crime punishable by death. The Office for the Investigation of Corruption of High Personalities (CIO), which centralizes the investigations, failed to apprehend him at his home on January 3, pushed back by the Presidential Security Service (PSS) determined to protect him.

Yoon Suk-yeol will not be present on Tuesday

If the Court’s eight judges confirm the impeachment, it will trigger new elections in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is in the midst of its second interim president and Yoon Suk-yeol’s takeover. Otherwise, the latter, now very unpopular, will be reinstated in his functions. “The impeachment case only focuses on martial law, so the facts are not particularly complex,” notes lawyer Kim Nam-ju to AFP, who believes that the procedure should not last long.

Read: Yoon Suk-yeol, the unpopular president who led South Korea into a democratic lurch

Yoon Suk-yeol’s legal team, for its part, calls on the Court to use the full time allocated to study the case, in particular what “led to the declaration of martial law.” Yoon Suk-yeol assured through his lawyers that he would attend one of the hearings to “give his point of view”. But not on Tuesday, one of his advisers, Yoon Kab-keun, said on Sunday, citing “concerns about security and potential incidents” in a press release sent to AFP. Concerning the two former South Korean presidents to have been affected by this same procedure, neither Park Geun-hye (dismissed and imprisoned) nor Roh Moo-hyun (re-invested). Yoon Suk-yeol’s will continue even without him.

The noose is tightening

At the same time, the CIO says it is “carefully preparing” its new arrest attempt. Anyone who obstructs the operation “may be the target of accusations” of obstruction and abuse of authority, the agency warned in a letter sent Sunday to the Defense Ministry and the PSS. In order not to repeat the fiasco of January 3, the National Investigation Agency, a division of the police, has also asked senior police officials in Seoul to be ready to mobilize 1,000 investigators, according to the Yonhap agency. .

Also read: In South Korea, anti-corruption department asks for more time to arrest former president Yoon Suk-yeol

Opposite, Yoon Suk-yeol’s guard has reinforced the defenses of his residence, bristling with barbed wire, while buses block the entrance. An army unit is patrolling outside but “will not be mobilized during the execution of the mandate,” Lee Kyung-ho, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, told the press. Police, the IOC and the presidential security service met Tuesday to discuss the arrest warrant, Yonhap reported.

Yoon Suk-yeol’s chief of staff, Chung Jin-suk, said his office was “ready to consider all options regarding investigation or visits” to the sitting president “at a third location.” An arrest of Yoon Suk-yeol would represent a first for a sitting South Korean head of state. Indeed, Yoon Suk-yeol is still officially the president, with deputies only having the power to suspend him. Only the Constitutional Court is empowered to withdraw his title.

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