South Korea’s Constitutional Court adjourned the impeachment trial of ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol after he failed to appear in court.
Yoon’s lawyer said the president would not attend as the authorities’ attempt to detain Yoon prevented him from expressing his position at the trial. He has reportedly been in hiding in his villa in Seoul for several weeks.
If he failed to appear at the next court hearing on Thursday, the trial would continue with his legal team representing him, acting chief justice Moon Hyung-bae announced. The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove Yoon from office for unjustifiably imposing martial law or restore his presidential powers.
The martial law imposed on 3 December was lifted about six hours later. However, it plunged South Korea into a political crisis.
Earlier, investigating authorities, including the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police, obtained a repeated arrest warrant from the court. It came after the first attempt to detain Yoon for questioning failed after a standoff with presidential security officials earlier this month.
The defence ministry said on Tuesday that the armed forces responsible for the president’s security would not be mobilised in connection with the execution of Yoon’s warrant.
