South Korea: Yoon Suk-yeol attends impeachment trial hearing

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, suspended from office, attended a hearing in his impeachment trial on Tuesday for the first time, with the end result being the permanent loss of his title or his return to business.

Yoon Suk-yeol was seized from power on December 14 by the National Assembly, which adopted an impeachment motion against him for his short-lived imposition of martial law 11 days earlier.

The eight judges of the Constitutional Court have until mid-June to ratify this sanction and permanently dismiss him, or give him back his seat. Six votes are required to possibly confirm his forfeiture.

Expected explanations

The conservative leader, who had resisted an initial raid on the orders of the authorities, was arrested and detained on January 15. An unprecedented fact for a titular South Korean head of state, which he officially remains until the Court’s decision.

He arrived at the court headquarters on Tuesday aboard a prison vehicle, AFP journalists noted. Reporters said Yoon Suk-yeol appeared in court wearing a suit, not the usual uniform provided by the prison service that he has been supposed to wear since Sunday.

Yoon Suk-yeol “will appear personally to explain the circumstances surrounding the declaration of martial law,” his lawyers said in a statement.

“Hostile elements”

He and his legal team are trying to defend the idea that this shock measure was necessary in the face of electoral fraud, the opposition having won hands down the legislative election of April 2024. With an overwhelming majority in Parliament at stake.

Yoon Suk-yeol has repeatedly spoken of “North Korean communist forces” and other “hostile elements” that would threaten South Korea, notably during his speech declaring martial law.

On Tuesday, he “could have the opportunity to speak in the courtroom and an interrogation by the president of the court could take place,” Cheong Jae-hyun, spokesperson for the Constitutional Court, told reporters.

The former star prosecutor, who did not appear at the first two hearings on January 14 and 16, is the only South Korean president to come to his impeachment trial. Neither Park Geun-hye (dismissed and then imprisoned) nor Roh Moo-hyun (recovered) attended theirs. In the event of impeachment, a new presidential election must be organized within 60 days.

Death penalty

Yoon Suk-yeol is accused of having shaken South Korea’s young democracy by declaring martial law by surprise on December 3, in a coup that revived painful memories of the military dictatorship.

Within Parliament, surrounded by soldiers, a sufficient number of deputies quickly managed to foil his plans, while thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators shouted their indignation outside.

Yoon Suk-yeol is the target of several investigations, including one for “rebellion”, a crime punishable by death. In pre-trial detention, he rejects summons from the CIO, the anti-corruption agency which centralizes criminal investigations into him, and wants to question him.

“Continued refusal to cooperate”

The IOC explained in a press release that it had tried to force him to comply but said it was met with his “continued refusal to cooperate”. “Disobeying the arrest warrant and refusing to testify will gradually be considered as factors against him in his impeachment trial,” lawyer Kim Nam-ju told AFP.

The deposed president does not recognize the legality of the criminal investigation and promised to “fight to the end”, haranguing his supporters through letters sent via his lawyers. Before dawn on Sunday, hundreds of his furious supporters stormed the court responsible for keeping him behind bars.

Yoon Suk-yeol had appeared before the judges the day before, a first since his shock measure. With the objective, according to his legal team, of “restoring his honor” by explaining “the legitimacy of martial law”. Dozens of people who participated in the unprecedented attack on the courthouse were arrested, police reported Monday, reporting 51 injured among their ranks.

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