South Korea’s Constitutional Court convened its first hearing to determine whether suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol should be permanently removed from office following his controversial martial law attempt last month.
The session lasted only four minutes due to Yoon’s absence. His lawyers had earlier announced that he would not attend the hearing for safety reasons, citing an active warrant for his arrest on separate insurrection charges.
In December, Yoon was suspended after members of his own party joined the opposition in a vote to impeach him. However, his removal from office requires the support of at least six of the eight Constitutional Court justices.
South Korean law mandates the court to reschedule the hearing if the defendant does not attend. The next hearing is set for Thursday.
Yoon’s legal team has indicated he will appear at an “appropriate time” while criticizing the court’s “unilateral decision” to set hearing dates.
On Tuesday, the court rejected their request to have one of the eight justices recused from the case.
Since his impeachment by parliament on December 14, Yoon has refrained from public comments, communicating primarily through his lawyers.
In a separate legal matter, authorities are preparing another attempt to arrest Yoon on insurrection charges after a previous effort on January 3 ended in a prolonged standoff with his security detail.
If apprehended, Yoon would become South Korea’s first sitting president to face arrest. Local reports suggest another attempt to detain him could occur this week.
The suspended leader has not commented publicly since parliament voted to impeach him on 14 December and has been speaking primarily through his lawyers.
Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration on 3 December has thrown South Korea into political turmoil. He had 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.
What followed was an unprecedented few weeks which saw the opposition-dominated parliament vote to impeach Yoon and then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who succeeded him briefly 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.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye did not attend their impeachment trials in 2004 and 2017 respectively.
In Park’s case, the first hearing ended after nine minutes in her absence.
Roh was reinstated after a two-month review, while Park’s impeachment was upheld.