Seoul: Former President Yoon Suk Yeol did not attend his insurrection trial for the third consecutive week Thursday, again citing poor health. The 10th hearing of the trial opened at the Seoul Central District Court without the appearance of Yoon, who is currently under arrest at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the court announced, "Since he has not appeared consecutively, we will begin investigation proceedings in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code and criminal procedure rules." The court also mentioned plans to verify with the detention center whether Yoon is indeed in poor health and if it is feasible to bring him in.
Yoon is standing trial on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his failed bid to impose martial law in December. The hearing proceeded as an extraordinary session to question witnesses for the case.
Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team protested Yoon had attended all nine hearings prior to his second arrest earlier this month without complaining about his health and even attended a separate court hearing last week that reviewed the legality of his arrest. They stated, "Following absences from the two previous hearings, he has again failed to appear without legitimate grounds. We ask the court to issue a warrant to bring him in as he has failed to appear three consecutive times in disregard of his duty as a defendant to attend."
Yoon's lawyers claimed his absence was also partly due to questions about the legality of special counsel Cho's team taking over the prosecution's indictments against the former president. On Saturday, the team separately indicted him on abuse of power charges related to his alleged violation of the rights of Cabinet members and other offenses. The indictments came days after Yoon was placed in custody a second time over the martial law attempt.