SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) – South Korea’s Constitutional Court adjourned the opening session of the impeachment trial of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol within minutes on Tuesday, after the embattled leader did not attend court.
A lawyer advising Yoon had said the president, who has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul for weeks, would not attend, saying a bid by authorities to detain him prevented Yoon from expressing his position at the trial.
The next trial session is scheduled for Thursday and if Yoon also does not attend, the trial proceedings will go ahead with his legal team representing him, acting chief justice Moon Hyung-bae said.
Outside the court, one of Yoon’s lawyers Yoon Kab-keun said the president would decide whether to go to the court in person on Thursday after discussions on his defence strategy.
The Constitutional Court must decide within 180 days whether to remove Yoon from office or restore his presidential powers.
Yoon also faces a criminal investigation for alleged insurrection, with authorities seeking to execute an arrest warrant after he ignored summons to appear for questioning.
“A legitimate warrant must exist, and… it must be legally presented and executed,” which does not mean “jumping fences or damaging property without presenting a warrant”, his lawyer Yoon said, repeating that the current arrest warrant was invalid.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 that was withdrawn after about six hours has plunged one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies into a period of unprecedented political turbulence.
Yoon’s chief of staff said on Tuesday that Yoon’s office can consult with investigating authorities in order to avoid a clash during the execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon.
Yoon could go to a third location outside of his fortified residence, or a visit to his home could be arranged so that investigating authorities could question Yoon, presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk said in a statement on Tuesday.
Investigating authorities, including the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police, have received a re-issued arrest warrant from a South Korean court after their first attempt to detain Yoon for questioning failed after a stand-off with presidential security officers earlier this month.
CIO, the police and Presidential Security Service (PSS) met on Tuesday to discuss the execution of the latest arrest warrant, investigating authorities said in a statement.
At the meeting, police and CIO asked the PSS for cooperation in executing the warrant peacefully and safely, and were awaiting a response.
The defence ministry said on Tuesday that military forces in charge of presidential security would not be mobilised in relation to Yoon’s warrant execution.
Amid South Korea’s political chaos, North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday, coinciding with a visit to Seoul by Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and less than a week before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office. South Korean lawmakers, after being briefed by the National Intelligence Service, said on Monday that the North’s recent weapons tests were partly aimed at “showing off its U.S. deterrent assets and drawing Trump’s attention”.
