The second reading of South Korea’s constitutional court was held to decide whether Yoon Suk Yeol, president of the country, should be removed from office following his shocking attempt to impose martial law last month.
Due to Yoon’s absence, which his lawyers had before stated he would not go for his own safety because he is facing a separate insurrection charge warrant, the conversation ended within four minutes.
After people of Yoon’s unique party voted with the opposition to remove him, he was suspended in December.
However, if at least six of the eight-member couch votes in favor of the impeachment, he will only be fully removed from office.
The court has established a new hearing date in South Korean legislation before proceeding without his participation.
The second hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Yoon’s doctors have indicated that he will show up for a reading at an “appropriate day”, but they have challenged the court’s “unilateral choice” on test schedules.
The doctors ‘ ask for one of the eight magistrates to be recused from the trials was rejected on Tuesday.
Yoon has spoken mostly through his attorneys, but he has not made a public comment since the parliament’s decision to remove him from office on December 14.
After an earlier attempt on January 3 ended after an hours-long conflict with his safety group, authorities are also separately preparing for a second attempt to arrest Yoon for alleged rebellion.
Yoon is South Korea’s first sitting president to face arrest. According to local media, the second man-hunt could start this week.
The suspended leader has been speaking primarily through his lawyers since parliament voted to remove him from office on December 14 and has not made any public comments since.
Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration on 3 Dec has thrown South Korea into political turmoil. He had tried to refute the claim, saying that he was defending the nation from “anti-state” forces, but it soon became clear that this was motivated by his own political difficulties.
What followed was a previously unheard-of few weeks where the opposition-dominated parliament voted to remove Yoon and Han Duck-soo from office as acting president.
The nation’s economy has been hit by the crisis, with global credit rating agencies and the wo n’t-ending consumer and business sentiment being warned of by weakening.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye did not attend their impeachment trials in 2004 and 2017 respectively.
In Park’s case, the first hearing ended after nine minutes in her absence.
Roh was reinstated after a two-month review, while Park’s impeachment was upheld.