Yoon Suk Yeol impeachment: Trial of suspended South Korean president to begin
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First of five hearings into martial law declaration due to start on Tuesday, while Yoon Suk Yeol remains holed up inside his presidential compound. The impeachment trial of South Korea’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, begins on Tuesday, with the constitutional court set to weigh whether to strip him of his presidential duties over a failed martial law bid.
![[Buses are parked at the entrance to the official residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3c9b94f70c0893f492535d94f4d62575f597e22c/0_0_4390_2927/master/4390.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Yoon’s December 3 power grab plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, after he directed soldiers to storm parliament in an unsuccessful bid to stop lawmakers voting down his suspension of civilian rule. He was impeached soon after and suspended from duty, but has gone to ground inside the presidential residence since, refusing summonses from investigators probing him on insurrection charges and using his presidential security team to resist arrest.
Lawmakers also impeached Yoon’s stand-in last month, Han Duck-soo, plunging the country further into political instability, and the current acting president, Choi Sang-mok, has appeared unwilling to wade into the standoff, instead urging all parties to negotiate for a solution.
The trial’s first hearing – out of five lasting until 4 February – is slated to begin at 2pm. The next hearings are scheduled to take place on 16, 21 and 23 January, and 4 February. Legal experts say the court will decide two issues, whether Yoon’s martial law declaration was constitutional and, if not, whether it amounted to insurrection.
