Yoon Suk Yeol to miss start of South Korea impeachment trial on safety grounds

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Yoon Suk Yeol to miss start of South Korea impeachment trial on safety grounds
Author: Agence France-Presse
Published: Jan, 12 2025 04:30

Lawyer for suspended president says concerns about ‘potential incidents’ have arisen following thwarted attempt to arrest him at his residence. South Korea’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, will not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial next week because of safety concerns, his lawyer has said.

Yoon has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force since being suspended and impeached last month following a short-lived declaration of martial law that plunged the country into political chaos. He has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators, and earlier this month his presidential guard unit thwarted an attempt to arrest him after a tense hours-long standoff.

The constitutional court has scheduled five trial dates between 14 January and 4 February, which will proceed in his absence if he does not attend. “Concerns about safety and potential incidents have arisen. Therefore, the president will not be able to attend the trial on 14 January,” lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement on Sunday. “The president is willing to appear at any time once safety issues are resolved.”.

The court will decide whether to uphold his impeachment or restore him to office. Separately, investigators seeking to question Yoon on insurrection charges linked to his ill-fated martial law declaration are preparing another arrest attempt. Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested if investigators are able to detain him. If convicted of insurrenction he faces prison or even the death penalty.

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