Seoul: Detained President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday to attend a trial deliberating his impeachment over his short-lived imposition of martial law. Yoon left the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital, in a convoy escorted by the Presidential Security Service and entered the court through an underground parking lot, out of view of the public.
According to Yonhap News Agency, at 2 p.m., Yoon entered a courtroom dressed in a suit to attend the third hearing of his trial, where he is expected to defend his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law. Yoon is the first president to attend his or her own impeachment trial as former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye were absent from theirs.
Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 and remains suspended from duty while an investigation is under way into charges he led an insurrection and abused his power through his declaration of martial law. The Constitutional Court has 180 days from the day it received the case on Dec. 14 to uphold the impeachment and remove him from office or dismiss the impeachment and reinstate him.
If Yoon is ousted, the country will be required to hold a snap presidential election within 60 days. Hundreds of people gathered outside the court to show their support for the president, holding up signs that read "Impeachment Invalid." Police surrounded the court's perimeter and beyond, and parked buses along sidewalks to prevent any violence among protesters.
Yoon's appearance at the court was the first time he appeared in public since the day he imposed martial law.