SEOUL, South Korea — Traveling around Seoul in a prison transport vehicle, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in two different courts on Thursday, contesting his arrest on rebellion charges in one and fighting an effort to remove him from office in the other.
Both cases — one on criminal charges, one an impeachment — are related to his brief imposition of martial law in December.
Security was heightened at the Seoul Central District Court as the motorcade transporting Yoon arrived for a preliminary hearing that involved discussions of witnesses, proposed evidence and other preparations for his criminal trial.
The court, which scheduled another preliminary hearing in March, was also reviewing a request by Yoon’s lawyers to cancel his arrest and release him from custody. Such challenges are rarely successful. The court was expected to make a decision later Thursday.
Yoon next traveled across the capital to the Constitutional Court, which is nearing a decision on whether to formally remove him from office after he was impeached by the National Assembly. Yoon temporarily left the courtroom when Prime Minister Han Duck-soo appeared as a witness. Yoon’s lawyer explained to the justices that his client believed it would damage the country’s image if both were seen in court together.
Han supported Yoon’s claim that the liberal opposition, with its legislative majority, had disrupted state affairs through pushing for impeachments of senior officials and undermining the government budget. However, Han repeated his previous statements to lawmakers and investigators that Yoon had violated constitutional requirements by failing to deliberate in a formal Cabinet meeting before declaring martial law on Dec. 3. Han said he didn’t know of any Cabinet member who expressed support of Yoon’s step.
Yoon returned to the courtroom as the justices called another witness, Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of South Korea’s spy agency. Hong has said that Yoon ordered him to help a defense counterintelligence unit detain key politicians, including National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik and opposition leader Lee Jae-myung.
Yoon was indicted Jan. 26 on rebellion charges, which carry a potential punishment of death or life in prison. In South Korea, presidents have immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but not on charges of rebellion or treason.
The indictment alleges his imposition of martial law was an illegal attempt to shut down the National Assembly and arrest politicians and election authorities. The conservative Yoon has said his martial law declaration was intended as a temporary warning to the liberal opposition and that he had always planned to respect lawmakers’ will if they voted to lift the measure.
Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when he was impeached Dec. 14, leaving him to fight for his political life at the Constitutional Court.
Martial law was lifted about six hours after Yoon declared it but has caused political turmoil, disrupted high-level diplomacy and tested the resiliency of the country’s democracy. Yoon’s conservative supporters rioted at the Seoul Western District Court after it authorized his arrest last month, while his lawyers and ruling party have openly questioned the credibility of courts and law enforcement institutions handling the case.
Yoon has continued to express contempt for his liberal rivals for obstructing his agenda and endorsed baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud to justify his ill-fated authoritarian push.
Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several military commanders have also been arrested and indicted on rebellion, abuse of power and other charges related to the martial law decree, which involved hundreds of heavily armed troops deployed to the National Assembly and National Election Commission offices.
